The ongoing debate over copyright in the digital age is clouded by so many layers of new-age malarkey and overblown, political banner-waving that it’s easy to lose sight of the behavioral realities behind all the self-serving theories of bloggers, legal scholars, corporate interests, and futurists. Take a very common activity like watching movies online via torrents or other sites that ...

There are a lot theories and a lot of experimentation with regard to independent filmmaking, the digital age, and the prospects for redefining the ways in which filmed entertainment can be funded by sponsors and distributed over the web.  I thought it would be interesting to talk to Amy French, an old friend who is a writer, filmmaker, and actress ...

Yesterday, on Capitol Hill, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss the Internet Radio Fairness Act, a bill largely backed by Pandora Media, Inc. and opposed by a growing number of musicians and songwriters.  In fact, I recommend Chris Castle’s excellent synopsis of the message taken to The Hill by a handful of songwriters.  If you want legal ...

Beneath the roil of arguments about illegal downloading of digital media, there is an unmistakable social, dare I say ethical, implication to the idea that the next generation is growing up believing that it is normal to enjoy entertainment media without paying for it.  Perhaps the most counter-intuitive phenomenon is the fact that college students currently paying a premium to ...

I guess it comes down to the obvious answer that “sex sells,” but with the recent arrest of two Vietnamese songwriters, I can’t help but notice the overwhelming silence on social media in stark contrast to the outpouring of support for Pussy Riot.  Okay, I get it.  Mini-dresses on leggy, Russian girls wearing brightly colored balaclavas are hard to beat ...

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