Rick Falkvinge over at TorrentFreak answers that question in an article written today. He explains that previous industries are often rendered obsolete by new ones and even at the cost of thousands of jobs nobody has fought to say that this is the way things have to be done because it is the way things have always been done. His example is that of the ice industry which was sub-planted largely by refrigerators. Households no longer needed large blocks of ice to keep their food longer. He then draws the parallel between the cooling industry’s revolution to that of the copyright industry.
I found it to be a thought provoking look at the RIAA/MPAA stance and new file distribution methods that have arisen in the past two decades. I recommend it as a worthwhile read: Nobody Asked For A Refrigerator Fee