As an embattled entertainment industry cracks down on campus file-sharing, students question the industry’s motives and tactics, and colleges are caught in the middle (Metroland – Sept. 11, 2003) When the Recording Industry Association of America targeted Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute freshman Jesse Jordan, another RPI student, and two students from other colleges with expensive copyright-infringement [...]

Most of the Capital Region’s SUVs are frequently breaking the law, just by driving down the street (Metroland – February 3, 2005) Attention SUV owners: Those same laws that keep tractor-trailers from taking a short-cut through your neighborhood might also make the family wagon a trespasser, too. It’s no secret that city and town officials [...]

Ten years after identifying his brother as the Unabomber, David Kaczynski talks about what the experience cost him, and what it taught him about the criminal-justice system (Metroland – January 26, 2006) David Kaczynski waited until the last possible day before traveling to his mother’s apartment. The FBI had given him three days to prepare [...]

Liquor store owner cries foul over wholesalers’ illegal perks and incentives (Metroland – November 17, 2005) Craig Allen is, to put it mildly, an intense guy. Named one of Entrepreneur’s top young millionaires last year, the 35-year-old owner of All Star Wine and Spirits in Latham has jumped from one legal battle to the next [...]

Homebuyers seeking a peaceful country life can make uneasy neighbors for the region’s remaining small farmers (Metroland – September 15, 2005) “As our nonfarming neighbors increase, it’s become necessary to remind everyone that farming is not a beautiful thing,” begins Bill Hoffay during the public comment period of a recent Town of Sand Lake board [...]

Curfews, anti-skateboarding rules, closed school grounds. . . . What’s a teen to do? (Metroland – August 04, 2005) It’s Friday night at Guilderland’s Crossgates Mall, and the massive shopping complex is bustling. Outside a shoe store, a middle-aged couple evaluate the sales posted in the store’s window, while the blond-haired children sandwiched between them [...]

Keeping our communities safe from sex offenders requires getting past the hysteria to solutions that really work (Metroland – May 12, 2005) “‘It’s the worst thing that could happen. I hear on the news that another sex offender has been arrested, and I start thinking, ‘Please don’t be one of my guys.’ ” Richard Scott, [...]

Denial of zoning variance keeps Clayton’s quiet and its critics happy, but supporters say Albany should let the music play (Metroland – March 17, 2005) At 11 PM on a Saturday night there’s a lot to hear on Spring Street. From the west, the chorus from Billy Joel’s “Captain Jack” grows louder and then plateaus [...]

As the expiration date looms for one of New York’s economic revitalization programs, legislators and advocates debate its merits, flaws and failures (Metroland – May 13, 2004) New York’s Empire Zone program was dealt a series of blows in recent months, as several prominent state officials added their names to the growing list of parties [...]