The case against Napster, the software program which allows users to share and trade music over the Internet, highlights the challenge of protecting intellectual property and copyright laws in the Information Age.

After an intense lobbying effort by the motion picture and recording industries, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in October 1998. The legislation set new standards for protecting software, music and written works on the Internet, as well as outlawing technologies that break copyright protection devices. The law also protects Internet Service Providers (such as AOL, Compuserve and Earthlink) from being sued for copyright violations that occur on their services.

But many groups are dissatisfied with the law, saying it gives copyright holders too much control over their work and disregards "fair use" rights that allow the public to copy protected works for educational purposes. Others say it is technologically impossible to keep up with copyright laws on the Internet, a fast-moving and ever-evolving information source.

On One Hand...

The American economy has always been driven by new ideas and strong copyright laws to protect them. These laws must also apply to the Internet. The Internet has become a tool for distributing ideas and publications; it may soon offer us the opportunity to log onto network television shows or even sporting events. That doesn't mean that it should become a medium for stealing. Because copyright laws have protected intellectual property from unauthorized use for over two hundred years, inventors and creative thinkers the world over have found support in the United States for their ideas that they haven't found elsewhere. The Internet will reward us with an increase in commercial promise - as long as the fundamental premise of ownership and distribution are protected under a system of copyright laws that have been updated to accommodate new and revolutionary technology. As the Internet offers new ways to spread ideas, trade secrets, and other forms of property, legal measures must be taken to prevent the potentially devastating effect that uncontrolled distribution can have on rightful owners.

On the Other Hand...

Applying copyright laws to the Internet would cripple a system which is based on accessibility and instant communication. The technological revolution has changed our landscape irrevocably. Information that was once only available to a few is now accessible to anyone. We shouldn't allow those who profited from the old system of exclusive ownership control this new medium for ideas and creative thought. It's true that some people will suffer, as their source of profit dries up. But how much are ideas worth, if their value is based on their inaccessibility? With the Internet, ideas, music, television, and news can be spread from one person to the next, without the barriers that distance, degrees or ivory towers used to impose on us. Copyright laws, if they are strictly imposed, would prevent us from sending copies over email, or reproducing creative work without proper permission. In an age when information is rapidly dispersed and quickly becomes old news, it's clear that the value of intellectual property can no longer be measured by the barriers that once restricted it.

• Copyright gives the holder the right to reproduce the work in copies, prepare derivative works, distribute to the public and gives rights of public performance and display.

• Copyright derives from Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution: [Congress shall have power...] To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.

• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act mandates that Internet broadcasters and record labels put into place a licensing system for Webcasters who want to play copyright-protected music on the Internet.

  U.S. House of Representatives, Recording Industry of America, What Is Copyright?, ZDNet