Six years ago, a family friend of mine was sued by the music industry for $6,000 for illegally downloading music off of the University of Wisconsin’s network. Out of the 10,000 students who go to the university, she was one of 15 randomly chosen students who had been downloading music illegally. Our generation knows how to utilize the Internet to find anything, and is often more focused on finding what they want rather than focusing on any negative consequences associated with it. In his book, Remix, Lawrence Lessig addresses copyright law and how it affects our generation. Lawrence Lessig is a law professor at Harvard Univeristy, and also has an extensive background in Internet and computer activism. In his book, Lessig asserts that our generation has come to expect “perfect access” to everything on the Internet. So, when we do not have easy access to something, we don’t think twice about finding it on the Internet—even if it is illegally. As a generation, I think we have developed a sense of entitlement to the privilege of having everything and anything at our disposal. Lessig states,

The expectation of access on demand builds slowly, and it builds differently across generations. But at a certain point, perfect access (meaning the ability to get whatever you want whenever you want it) will seem obvious. And when it seems obvious, anything that resists that expectation will seem ridiculous. Ridiculous, in turn, makes many of us willing to break the rules that restrict access. Even the good become pirates in a world where the rules seem absurd.

 

I think Lessig’s analysis of our generation’s need for “perfect access” is quite accurate. It is not that our generation is trying to obtain things illegally, but if we cannot find it on itunes or something, we probably won’t hesitate to obtain it in othe ways. Lessig has a good point when he states that if people don’t want their stuff stolen, they must make it readily available for people. While piracy has been increasing over the past few years, I think sites like Pandora or Netflix, which allows you easily access music or movies for a very low cost may help decrease piracy over time. Lessig also argues that not only will more access lower the incidence of piracy, but it will allow culture to grow as well. Lessig asserts,

As the mix increases, the diversity of culture that can flourish in the digital age grows. Think of all the books in the Library of Con- gress. Now imagine the same diversity of music, video, and images. And then imagine all of it accessible, in an instant, by anyone, any- where.

 

Lessig asserts that with so many available digital files to stimulate us, the RO (Read Only) culture would lead our society’s creativity to flourish. However this statement seemed to slightly contradict what Lessig was arguing earlier in his book. He seemed adamant that the RW (Read/Write) culture was the best way for culture to flourish. While I agree with Lessig over all, I think our generation would be better with a mix of the RO and RW cultures. I agree with Lessig’s argument that increased access will benefit our society. Especially as future generations will continue to become accustomed to having everything and anything they want at their fingertips, increased access will decrease piracy while also stimulating the creative minds of our society.