As we noted last week, Google has introduced a new beta email service called "Gmail" that raises a number of privacy concerns.While the media has largely focused on the fact that Gmail will scan the contents of your email messages in order to target ads, the more serious problem...

Today, we filed comments (PDF) with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to warn against overbroad interpretation of the CAN-SPAM Act -- new federal legislation aimed at stemming the current tidal wave of spam. We are pessimistic that the law will be effective in that respect, and...

An attorney lets his 10 year-old install a computer game. Here's what happens:
So my 10 year-old took the lead and started installing the software. When he got to the license agreement, he quipped, "Let's see, it says I have to click 'accept' to continue. Well DUH! It's...

In a victory for due process, a Pennsylvania judge has reaffirmed his previous finding requiring that record companies that seek to sue filesharers bring individual cases against the defendants, rather than lumping them all together.
Our favorite part of the ruling (PDF): when Judge Newcomer lists ways that...

Fred writes below that player pianos were the peer-to-peer file-sharing systems of their day; they spurred copyright holders to lobby Congress for what amounts to a monopoly over all machines capable of reproducing sound. Luckily for us, observes Fred, they failed -- and the modern-day recording industry was...

When considering what to make of the recording industry's current rants against peer-to-peer file sharing software, it may help to remember how the record industry got its start -- by pirating the works of famous American songwriters. Consider this article, written by John Philip Sousa in 1906:
"I...

Some folks keep asking why more artists aren't breaking into the mainstream through file sharing. This article suggests that they are--but that the record labels are taking all the credit:
"Record-label executives discreetly use Garland's research firm, BigChampagne, and other services to track which songs are traded online...