In fact , it could mean disastrous results for the same industries.

I mean , how easy is it to get illegal software / music / movies / whatever ? It's brilliantly super easy !
The biggest morons can install Kazaa and with a little effort they get the software they want to.

Now , when you had open source projects , at least you had SOME alternatives to get your conscience in order.

You'd try some graphical program , then put on your halo , logged in to sourceforge.net or something similar and get a nice , free , open sourced program , (Example : The Gimp) that can be the beginning of a very nice future in graphical drawing/programming.

Íf the patent-trend keeps up.. The Gimp will close down and all you can do is practise with Ms Paint .. and if you want more.. pay up HUGE BUCKS for professional products , or get it immensly easy , and illegal , using P2P such as Kazaa.

Same goes with the people who want to try out the Linux Operating System. Knoppix is an excellent way to check if your hardware is linux-ready. You don't have to configure a single thing. Just pop in the cd-rom , let it boot and presto.

Luckily most distro's are still free, but most of them require their own partitions.

If they kill the last open source and free project initiatives.. the communities of illegal downloads will flourish and expand.. a LOT.
Expect huge IRC / UseNet / Kazaa communities in the next few years.