The DMCA is one of several recent laws that regulate intellectual property and are quietly reshaping the culture.

... intellectual property law can now be found at the center of major disputes in the arts, sciences and politics.

In less than a decade, the much-ballyhooed liberating potential of the Internet seems to have given way to something of an intellectual land grab, presided over by legislators and lawyers for the media industries.

"We are at a moment in our history at which the terms of freedom and justice are up for grabs."