Copywrong

...get it? Sorry, I was just trying to make this subject a little more entertaining.

I'm not sure where I stand on all this digital copyright business. To an outsider (which I am trying to be right now), there is no clear right or wrong about transmitting digital information. I'm sure the original Napster generation (ahem, me), the intellectual socialists, the media executives, and Metallica band members disagree. I am sure everyone one of them insists the subject is black and white. So, what do we do?

There are merits on both sides of this argument; artists (filmmakers, producers, musicians, actors, etc) should be paid for their hard work, but how could one even consider trying to charge money for the binary manifestations of creative thoughts? And, what would be an appropriate price?

In theory, I think bootlegging, pirating, torrenting, etc is bad. At the moment, I'm not sure I'm comfortable calling that 'wrong.') Transmitting intellectual property without paying for it (when there is typically an associated charge) is bad. It is bad for the artists who don't get paid for their work; it's bad for the economy (though admittedly can be better for the individual); it's bad for the seeders who get sued by media companies; it's bad for the bandwidth when one roommate is trying to legally stream a TV show; it's bad for law and digital media students who now have all of the resulting copyright acts to sort out. Whether or not all these activities are 'wrong' depend on the moral beliefs of each individual.

The problem with digital copyright, I believe, is regulation. How can people discourage, track, and punish activities that violate the digital copyright acts? And, who's responsibility is it? Are there WWW police, or do we have to wait for an outside party to step in a la To Catch a Predator?

I believe prevention is another important measure to take. Prevention and discouragement could be furthered through legal and practical alternatives to stealing and scaring the crap out of downloaders by threatening to sue the. I do not think it was a coincidence that illegal music downloads plummeted after the introduction of the iTunes store and recent waves of threatening emails from the Recording Industry Association of America.

But the question remains, how much should a song cost? a movie? a digital novel? And, how can we make sure they don't get unreasonably expensive?

I have no idea. Do you? Maybe while we try to figure it out I'll go download a pirated movie.