File Sharing and Intellectual Property

Sure it's loud, sometimes it’s annoying, and half the time I can't understand the lyrics. But my kids really like listening to their music, just as I enjoy listening to mine, and sometimes we even find common ground. In our house, we love using the Internet to find new music, but we have one rule and it's non-negotiable. If you want to download it, you have to pay for it.

I've done some research, and I know how my kids can legally download music. We set limits on how much they can spend each month on download sites, we talk about the music they like, and we do that together. This way, I know that we're not sharing personal information with people we don't trust.

We also talk to our kids about why it is important to respect artists' rights. Music and movies are created by real people, and those people earn their living with those creations. Not every artist is a megastar, and many of the people who help to create the music we enjoy will never be household names. If I want my kids to respect their own ideas and property, and to pursue their own dreams, then I need to make sure they respect the dreams, ideas and property of others.

Finally, there are consequences if they don't. I know about file-swapping software, and I check regularly to see what programs are running on our home computer. My kids know that if they install any file-swapping software, then we're going to have a talk.