File Snaring

Today, the Los Angeles Times ran, in their continuing serious on the media habits of Generation M, what appears to be several specious claims that file-sharing has declined in the wake of entertainment industry lawsuits. Siva Vaidhyanathan, who was interviewed for the article, "Is Copying a Crime? Well . . . ," also makes a credible allegation that he was misquoted by the reporter, with "freeloading" printed in lieu of the correct term "freeriding."

Most of all, I loved the sanctimonious photo of the mother-son duo with the following caption: "We've tried to use CD copying to teach bigger lessons about morality." Of course, I often talk about copyright law with my teenager, but I emphasize that negotiating digital rights continues to be a contentious issue about which there is considerable cultural debate about the limits of the claims of intellectual property, given the competing claims of fair use. See "Bring Digital Politics to the Dinner Table" on my list of Ten Principles for the Digital Family for more.