The same applies to e-commerce in the Internet. To be sure, there are technical challenges too. A system that delivers product for free on the Internet, such as Napster, is far simpler to develop than an alternative secure and legal technology, which has to procure revenue for many concerned parties. The music business, for instance, has a complex clearinghouse mechanism, and this has to be replicated. It should be realized that the standardization of delivery and collection mechanisms online is also a thorny issue which takes time to be resolved, and requires continued negotiation between content owners, rights management companies, and clearinghouses.
Some problems are evident already.
There is nothing unusual about all of this, of course. The colonization of the Internet requires extensive police and administrative functions. For the market to be as broad-based as it can be and enjoy lasting success, it has to ensure good representation as well. A consumer might become impatient with a record company that procrastinates on e-commerce, but, as suggested above, that timing may not be entirely under the record company's control. Additionally, there may be a considered policy that deserves, I think, to be better understood.