The problem with sharing: it's good to share, right? Well, it's gotten complicated, as digital technology leapfrogs past our laws and conventions.

• Author: Harmon, Amy
• Position: National

The music industry says that what he is doing is illegal, but Dan Langlitz, 20, a junior at Pennsylvania State University, sees nothing wrong with downloading music from the Internet on the high-speed access lines at the university student center.

"It's not something you feel guilty about doing," he says. "You don't get the feeling it's illegal because it's so easy." He held an MP3 player in his hand. "They sell these things, the sites are there. Why is it illegal?"

Langlitz's attitude, multiplied millions of times across the country, is big trouble for the record industry, and it could be for the film and television industries as well, where the problem is currently smaller but growing.

The bigger issue is that a decade into the digital revolution, a growing number of Americans have come to believe that Internet content--from songs and software, to newspaper and magazine articles and term papers--is free for the asking and that it is perfectly fine to share it with others. And in some cases, that's all true.

But most Internet file sharing is illegal, and the record companies are working to get that message out: last month, the industry followed upon on its September lawsuits against 261 people accused of illegally downloading music by notifying another 204 people that they would be next.

The basic problem is that advances in technology have leapfrogged past laws and societal conventions developed for earlier, less advanced technologies. The ability to download at will has raised fundamental questions about fair payment to artists, the ownership and control of art and other kinds of content, and the rights of consumers who buy and use that content.

"Law, technology and ethics are not in sync right now," says Senator Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican. "I presume these lawsuits are having some impact, but they're not solving the problem."

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The record industry argues that sharing songs online is like stealing a CD from a record store. But to many Americans, file sharing seems more like taping a song off the radio. The truth, copyright experts say, may lie somewhere in between.

The basic boundaries are clear. Copyright law permits people to copy recordings and distribute them to family members and friends, as long as they have purchased the recordings. But it is illegal to distribute recordings that have not been purchased, even to family and friends. It is also illegal to distribute recordings--even those that have been purchased--to strangers.

Part of the issue for many downloaders (besides a fondness for getting things flee) is a belief that the record industry is trying to take away their ability to make copies of music to use personally and to share with friends.

Added to that is resentment many feel toward big record labels...