Outlaw kids

Great presentation at TED by Larry Lessig (though I disagree with Lessig's not taking his own ideas to their logical denouement). His last point is most salient. I remember bringing this point up with my young nephew a couple of years ago. If we don't address the issue of intellectual monopoly, the new generation will experience together a deep contempt for the law, stemming from their natural activity being forced underground.

Update (Nov 29, 2007): John Tehranian has written a paper on the norm/law gap amongst normal citizens, taking as an example one day in the life of a professor, Infringement Nation: Copyright Reform and the Law/Norm Gap. Here's a summary of that paper. How many times do you casually reply to email in one day? 20 casual replies, if copyright law were enforced, would cost this professor some $3 million, if he were to slip up and unwittingly quote his senders' messages. For shame!

Hat tip: Just an Online Minute