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Collaboration is becoming more and more important as new forms of media take shape and become part of our daily routines. In a post for Fast Company, blogger Shawn Graham asserts that a new, “collaborative class” is emerging where people are connecting and establishing communities to meet their needs. Graham also notes that sites like Brazen Careerist are using these advances to inspire more and more people to go into business for themselves, a trend that could certainly impact the U.S. economy.

I’m not sure how collaborative Vanilla Ice was back in the day, unless you count sampling David Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure” without permission. And that brings to mind one of the consequences of a more collaborative online environment–intellectual property rights. With a quick copy-paste, content from one website can be transferred to another; or, cybersquatters claim domain names (or those that are “confusingly similar”) that legitimate companies would like to use themselves. Although IP laws exist, it’s sometimes difficult to enforce them in a wide-open, global forum like the Internet.

On the flip side, there’s free speech. The Internet has developed into an open forum for exchanging ideas, and is a primary means of communication for many people. At what point does expressing an opinion or taking advantage of available technology cross the line and violate a protected, trademarked entity? Groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation work “to preserve balance and ensure that the Internet and digital technologies continue to empower you as a consumer, creator, innovator, scholar, and citizen”.

Regardless of the potential IP pitfalls, collaboration is a valuable way for everyone to network, build relationships, create, and innovate on an exponentially larger scale than just a few years ago. It’s a great byproduct of the advances in new media.