[Bill]

Back then all the songs shared were ripped from cds, there was no monetization path for the original rights owner.

Now, monetization is thru amazon and iTunes, so, the singles that are being shared have typically been paid for at least once.

And, the same boards of directors that own (thru share control) Samsung and apple also own the content sales companies.

So the same groups are profiting on both the hardware and content ends of the system.

disclaimer - I don't use smartphones, so I don't know what drm systems they might or might not be using on "loanable" content.

amazon requires that kindle book files of certain types be loanable, so they can be transferred from kindle to kindle, but various drm protocols still apply.