The primary reaction to the explosion of illegal downloads is to change the public attitude to realize that downloading any media without the owner's consent is stealing. This is perhaps the hardest hill to climb for the music industry, which some consumers might have thought was overcharging for its product. However, the industry's revenue not only paid popular artists, but it also supported the growth and development of new artists.
The music industry has made increased access to purchasing music online--there are about 50 different ways to purchase music online. iTunes and Amazon are prime examples of how this can be done.
One controversial reaction to illegal downloading is involving internet service providers. It has been suggested ISPs should warn customers they are doing something illegal and take action if they persist after warning. However, this raises the question of privacy and censorship and the argument that there are worse things than illegal downloading on the Internet that should be banned.