Law & Policy

File-sharing isn't the only way the music fans at your house will be swapping tunes. If Yahoo and MSN have their way, instant-messaging will soon be kids' favorite way to share music. "While the popular IM software already lets people listen to online radio, new versions will let people share and interact with one another's digital playlists," CNET reports. Yahoo's plans are still sketchy (though … [Read more...] about Tunes the IM way

For kids and teens, the online social scene is a little like what happens when 18-year-olds go off to college. Suddenly there's a lot of freedom; people get experimental socially. Most of what happens is relatively harmless, some not. What's different about the online scene is, the experimentation starts at a much younger age and - to an even greater degree - there are no grownups around. What I … [Read more...] about Cybersocializing, cyberbullying

Even kids - those who use Kazaa or BitStream, anyway - will be interested in this case. It pitted dozens of huge media companies against two small software companies (and the millions of file-sharers that use their services, Grokster and Morpheus). In a unanimous decision, a US federal court in California ruled Thursday that Grokster, Morpheus, and other P2P services, can't be held liable for the … [Read more...] about File-sharing milestone

University students may be changing their downloading habits but not their mindsets, according to the California Aggie, news site of the University of California, Davis. One freshman stopped downloading at school for fear of repercussions but said she continues file-sharing at home; another student "said he downloads without regard for copyrights to 'stick it to the man'." Still, the number of … [Read more...] about Student-eye-view of P2P

The Business Software Alliance says that the younger people are "the more likely they are to own and use pirated goods" such as software, CDs, and DVDs, the BBC reports. The article cites fresh BSA research finding a "growing disrespect" for copyrights, with nearly half of UK 18-to-29-year-olds owning pirated or counterfeit goods. The study found that 17% of people over 50 own pirated goods, … [Read more...] about The ‘pirate generation’