Just Because You Can...?

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. Just Because You Can...?
OK, a kid records 20 seconds of the Transformers movie to show to her brother, who couldn't go. Should she go to jail for this? The very fact that we can ask this question tells me how backwards our values have become. And it gets worse before it gets better, doesn't it. What if the kid records 20 seconds of a live event? 20 seconds of street scenery which includes company logos and text? 20 seconds of a political rally? At some point, someone has to say, sharing is not a crime. Unauthorized commercial reproduction, that's a crime. More...