Trey Harrison, a young independent software developer, was faced with a problem. The application he developed -- an advanced video mixer used in live performance -- showed up on warez sites, complete with a crack, before he'd secured his second customer. Many developers in his situation would have gotten mad, but Trey took a different stance.

He wrote the warez group who'd released his application into the wild and asked nicely that they stop. At the same time he also wrote the company from whom he'd purchased his copy-protection library used in his application. Who wrote back first? The warez group. Apparently appreciative of Trey's direct approach, they replied within hours, complimented Trey and promised not to leak future versions of the software.

Granted, this might not be a solution that works for everyone but, we can't help but wonder if the RIAA could have saved millions in legal fees by simply opening a dialog rather than filing thousands of lawsuits.