Hide your credit card, your ‘pirating’ eye-patch and your CD burner.

The release of Radiohead’s free album, ‘In Rainbows,’ has ushered in a new era of downloads that could do away with online pirating for good.

Fans and curious listeners can download the 10 songs off the band’s new album on their Web site for free, for a dollar or at whatever price you choose.

In 2003, the release of ‘Hail to the Thief,’ Radiohead’s last album, signaled the end of the band’s contract with record label EMI. They did not re-sign with EMI, but instead chose to stay independent.

When they released ‘In Rainbows’ on Oct. 10, they were completely unaffiliated with any label.

The band put their fans to the test. Would people pay money for an album ‘ even if it was offered legally for free? Well, it seems Radiohead fans would.

The band refuses to reveal statistics, but a report from gigwise.com says that the band made an estimated $10 million the first day with about 1.2 million downloads of the album. People seemed to be paying anywhere from $1 to $20, but the average was about $8.

The Web site also gives fans the choice to pre-order the collector’s disc box set, which will be mailed out on Dec. 3. The package is priced at about $81 and includes a compact disc, two vinyl records, and a second CD with more new songs and some special features. Although there is no exact count, reports say that quite a few people are choosing to dish out the $81 for the disc box.

Paul Collett, a sophomore business major from Iona College and avid Radiohead fan, bought the album for √£1, or about $2, and is planning on purchasing the disc box.

Collett said he is very supportive of the band’s method of releasing the album.

‘I think it’s great. It’s a big fuck you to the music industry,’ Collett said. ‘The band got [pushed] around by Capitol [Records] and had no motivation to deal with trying to sign a contract. They had 1.2 million downloads the first week, which shows how much the fans that actually love the band are willing to support them when they don’t have to.’

Other artists have made a similar move in distributing their work. Wes Anderson’s 12-minute short film starring Natalie Portman and Jason Schwartzman, ‘Hotel Chevalier,’ is completely free when you download it off of iTunes. Big name artists Oasis and Jamiroquai are also rumored to be releasing their next albums for free on the Internet in light of Radiohead’s success.

Yet, despite Radiohead’s flexibility with price, illegal downloads of the album persist. According to a report from bigchampagne.com, the number of illegal downloads exceeds the number of legal downloads from the band’s Web site.

So why are fans stealing something that they can get for free?

One theory is that most people are so used to downloading from programs such as Limewire and DC++ that they have decided to stay in their comfort zone and ‘steal’ music even though they can legally avoid spending money by using the band’s Web site.

‘I was lazy,’ admitted Ryan O’Connor, sophomore biology major who obtained the album from another source other than the band’s own Web site. However, he did say that despite downloading the music now, he plans on buying a hard copy upon its release in stores.

O’Connor said he thinks Radiohead’s unique offer is a good idea.

‘The biggest complaint by illegal downloaders is that CD prices are too high,’ he said.

He continued to explain that the band’s ‘experiment’ is a good way to challenge those illegal downloaders and see if they will take this opportunity to prove to record labels that they will pay for music at reasonable prices.

‘[It] was well worth the wait,’ Collett said. ‘The album encompasses everything there is to love about Radiohead’s work and is melded into a perfect 42 minutes of music.’