Digital Natives: encounter with the RIAA

Jul 24, 2008

Launched last Wednesday, the Digital Natives Reporters in the Field series gets fully underway this week with the first two parts of a brand-new piece created by Digital Natives summer interns Nikki Leon and John Randall: "The Ballad of Zack McCune" -- an exploration of digital natives and illegal downloading, guided by Berkman summer intern Zack McCune's encounter with the RIAA.

Without further ado, Parts I and II as presented on the Digital Natives blog:

The Ballad of Zack McCune, Part 1

This video – “The Ballad of Zack McCune, Part I” – is the first of a three-part piece created by Nikki Leon and John Randall of the Digital Natives summer team. It marks another installment in our weekly “Digital Natives: Reporters in the Field” series, in which we delve into a variety of Digital-Natives-related topics.
In this video, we take a look at digital natives’ attitudes towards illegal downloading. Part I, posted here, is the introduction to Zack McCune’s story — how he got sued by the Recording Industry Association of America and what happened as a result. Part II examines the disconnect between youth and the recording industry, while Part III investigates how the experience got Zack interested in internet policy and the free culture movement.
Come back tomorrow for Part II, and stay tuned every Wednesday for new podcasts on cyberbullying, digital learning, online activism, and other Digital Natives issues!

The Ballad of Zack McCune, Part 2
Here’s the second installment of our three-part video “The Ballad of Zack McCune.” You can view part 1 here.
What do you do when you’re sued by the recording industry? And how do kids and teens reconcile the law (and corporate interests) with a culture of illegal downloading? Last year, Brown University student Zack McCune was faced with both of these questions. He explains…

Look for a new Digital Natives podcast every Wednesday, now through October. And Watch Part 3 of Zack’s story here on August 6th.