Stealing a painting from an artist who earns their living from selling their work seems clearly morally reprehensible. Yet many young people today have no problem pirating the latest video game release. Is this really a different situation? How and why do people rationalize pirating of movies and software? I think the key lies in [...]

Following up with last week’s post, I thought there was at least one important piece that I left out of the publishing problem.  Perhaps you’ve heard of it: Digital Rights Management (or DRM).  If you haven’t, this term describes a philosophy about copyright as it relates to digital content (rather than traditional physical content), and this [...]

I love downloading new music; it’s like getting a gift for your birthday.  It’s fresh and exciting, and there is so much out there to listen to.  Sometimes we can get this music through friends or maybe from the radio months after the music is released.  However, what about that music that is lesser known? [...]

Tomorrow, Jan 19th, some sites on the World Wide Web will shut down to protest PIPA, the reincarnation of SOPA. SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261 ) written by Representative Lamar Smith and several other Congressmen.  The blackout is meant to both protest the legislation and to simulate the possibility of the U.S. government [...]

Before winter break I wrote a piece about SOPA and the legitimacy online piracy more generally [...] File sharing made the news again last week, but in a more humorous manner…

The Internet is arguably one of the most open and democratic systems on the planet. Art and ideas can be accessed and shared by anyone, with very few limitations, especially in the U.S One big exception is piracy, the sharing of copyrighted material.