Anarchoblogs

The intricacies of intellectual property law baffle me, in their often convoluted and retrograde manner of dealing with digital information. I can’t even imagine how a young child might begin to understand the legal “rights” and “wrongs” of file sharing, and the possible repercussions of downloading the latest Shayne Ward album.

Fortunately there is no longer a need to guess, as TorrentFreak has posted an illuminating interview with “Hannah”, a nine-year-old girl, in which they talk about downloading music, lawsuits, and what pirates are (answer: “they have parrots”).

Here’s a choice excerpt:

TF: Do you think its legal or illegal to copy a CD or DVD?

Hannah: Some men right, they sell you a DVD at the market but when you get home it doesn’t play, that’s illegal.

TF: Why is it illegal?

Hannah: Duh!! Because they tell you it works and when you get it home it’s rubbish and jumps in the middle and its a waste of money!

Via Kottke.org.

This month’s issue of Canadian Dimension features an interview with yours truly about Art Threat, a political art magazine edited by myself and published by überculture. Writer Ed Janzen suggests that Art Threat might be the best remedy for “culturally deprived politics and political deprived culture”, a prescription that I hope can be of use to an increasingly growing chunk of web surfers.

The interview took place several months ago, shortly after CBC Radio got me into the studio for a chat about the project. Since then, we’ve decided to focus more on the website and less on the periodical, although we are planning a anthology-type publication for Fall 2008.

Download the article (PDF)

Image: Araphat by Ed Janzen. See the artist’s statement and a larger image in the Art Threat Gallery.