Contentville.com: Selling Souls

by Brian Caterino THE POLITICS OF the Internet often defy conventional classification. Take the Napster dispute. Supporting the large media conglomerates is the heavy-metal rock group Metallica. They oppose free music distribution because it deprives musicians of sales and royalties. Representing the last gasp of garage-band anarchism, Courtney Love posts free MP3 files of her band Hole in an attempt to bypass corporate control and forge a more direct relationship with her audience. While both parties to the dispute defend the freedom of intellectual property, two distinct conceptions of the connection between freedom and property are at work here. One view sees property largely as a possession, an economic good […]