Now the only way for record companies to make as much money as they used to, or for MP3 player manufacturers to increase their already sizeable profits, is to legalise the downloading of music. This is becoming very popular among pre-teens and young adults who do not enjoy large incomes.

Downloading has become the only solution to the problem of overpriced music, for both distributors and consumers. It is the modern equivalent of the Walkman, and if the record industry cannot fight it, it will need to learn to work with it to find a solution that benefits the people on both sides of the financial fence.

Anthony Hess, Tai Tam

The lawsuit against Napster raised the public's awareness of copyright infringement, and now there are growing opportunities to set up legitimate websites and distribution channels for music. More people are seeking legitimate ways of downloading songs. People are generally more willing to pay a monthly fee to do so rather than risk violating copyright laws or even committing computer crimes.

Also, since the use of portable music players, such as MP3 players, is becoming more popular, demand for music downloads is now so great that there are insufficient legitimate websites and channels from which to download songs.

Queenie Man Sin-tiang,

Tsim Sha Tsui

Q Which tunnel options would best ease traffic?

Recently the Post reported that the government knows that allowing the Eastern Harbour Crossing to raise rates will cause an increase in traffic in the Cross-Harbour Tunnel of something like 17 per cent. If the government is concerned about congestion, surely raising the cost of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel would divert traffic to the eastern and western tunnels. It seems obvious that the most heavily used tunnel should be the most expensive.

Perhaps adding to the toll in the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and using the extra revenue to subsidise the eastern and western tunnels would be more effective in relieving the congestion in Wan Chai and in helping the tunnel companies meet their contracted returns on investment.

John Stimpson, Tai Tam

On other matters ...

I have to agree with Talkback writer SPF's comments on Tuesday. The best concert I have ever attended at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, where R.E.M. played on Sunday night, was Oasis in 1998. And why was it so good? It was a (rare) all-standing show. There were no barriers protecting the rich and famous, no snotty security guards telling everyone to sit down or blocking people from getting to the front. It was just a classic rock show with happy fans, dancing and moving as they pleased.

Although the Convention and Exhibition Centre has tried 'segregated' standing shows over the past few years, dividing the audience according to ticket prices, it hasn't worked, leaving big 'holes' between sections and real fans stuck at the back. Hong Kong is not a place where music fans are too rowdy or violent, where an all-standing concert would be a concern. I agree that 'family' concerts should always remain all-seated, but rock shows need to be enjoyed standing up!

Sanjay A. Sakhrani, Admiralty

R.E.M.'s appearance on Sunday marked my 20th anniversary as a fan and dedicated R.E.M. shower vocalist. I was so excited to hear of their return to Hong Kong after nine long years, and was even happier as it was on my personal 'China anniversary' of when I first saw them perform in Philadelphia during their first US tour in 1985.

The performance, however, turned from exhilarating to disappointing, as the audience was reminded that R.E.M., once a folk-turned-hard-rock outfit, had gone so far back beyond their roots that the seeds were showing. I guess the pioneers of eco-conscious hard rock have turned their message into save-the-world-now-and-forget-about-what-made-us-unique-as-musicians mud - which in my CD collection unfortunately gets filed under soft rock. I guess everybody does hurt ... sometimes.

D.J. Cove, Central

I support the decision of the Hospital Authority to limit the services of the Queen Mary Hospital clinic for transsexuals, based on considerations of resources and prioritising services to allow the clinic to treat more urgent psychiatric cases.

We all understand that even cancer patients have to buy their own drugs nowadays, and that depression sufferers have to wait more than a year for medical appointments at public hospitals. I do not agree with gay groups that say the authority's policy amounts to indirect discrimination. If it discriminated on grounds of sexual orientation, it would counter sound decision-making and even urgent cancer patients would be discriminated against.

John Yim