writers

Writers Push for Laws to Maintain Internet Freedom

Stevie Converse — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:17:39 -0700

During the recent writers strike that virtually paralyzed television production for three months, Patric Verrone learned the value of the Internet.

In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop

Holiday Shapiro — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:13:57 -0700

They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home. A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

Why (Most) Authors and Publishers Need Not Fear Online Piracy

Holiday Shapiro — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:09:58 -0700

In a dire article in London's Times yesterday, reporter Ben Hoyle opened with the self-evidently ludicrous statement that "book piracy on the Internet will ultimately drive authors to stop writing unless radical methods are devised to compensate them for lost sales." Internet piracy, no matter how pervasive, is not about to bring the worldwide production of literature to a grinding halt, just as rampant music piracy isn't stopping my neighbor's kid from playing his drum kit in the garage every day before dinner.