Why does everything feel like it should be free in the new technology age? Even people who are otherwise pretty honest and hard-working often don’t have issues snagging some free, ill-gotten wi-fi or ripping a friend’s cd.

I’ve seen recently, on a mainstream website, detailed instructions for hacking my local soda machine for free beverages. In fact, Fox News conducted an interview with the editor of a published magazine who gave tips for slacking on the job without getting caught by your boss. However, I want to focus on digital media for now.

It probably could be said that Napster (or was it Xerox?) started the whole thing, but I’m thinking of a more recent example from earlier this month. In case you didn’t hear, there was a revolt, more or less, at digg.com where users, despite the site’s best efforts, posted code that would enable you or I to make perfect copies of DVD-HD or Blueray discs. Of course, you’d have to know where to even use that code, but it’s beside the point. The fascinating thing to me was how it went from being an issue of theft to an issue of free speech, overnight.

Is it the anonymity that normalizes theft? Or is our culture just decaying? Or is it the digital medium? I think digital somehow translates into value-less. When you have a digital file that can be shared without being depleted, it seems like it shouldn’t cost something. E.g., if I have a pencil and I give it to you, I don’t have the pencil anymore. However, I can give you a perfect copy of a number of digital items I have paid money for and it doesn’t cost me a cent. Conversely, and perhaps more importantly, I can take/rent/borrow something from you and keep it for myself AND give you back what you loaned to me. No harm, no foul.

I guess I’m thinking about this since I just released an album in an all-digital format. My physical discs are coming, but those little files are really worth a lot to me right now since they are all I have to show for my years of work on that project.

There are people who will argue that peer to peer distribution actually helps an artist gain recognition and I don’t completely disagree. After all, Weird Al Yankovic is at the peak of his polka and parody career thanks to new inovations like myspace and youtube.

I will still argue in the end, though, that a lot of people aren’t interested in paying a fair price.

I don’t know why, but we would much rather take something for free when we can, than support the thing we like and enjoy. And we wouldn’t do it with a candy bar at the store or even when we see a wallet on the ground in a Wal-mart parking lot. But when it comes to digital property, what’s yours is mine.