Yeah, a lot of the paranoid people I know tend to focus upon the problems rather than the solutions (or acceptable compromises). I'm not sure that I would stick Doctorow on that end of the spectrum though. His fiction certainly seems to stretch in that direction, but it may simply be a case of him writing what sells. On the other hand, he often practices what he preaches. For example: most, if not all, of his work is distributed under liberal creative commons licenses and his tries out new ideas in an attempt to adapt to changing markets.

I would also argue that both sides are blind to real issues. I mean, it's easy to point fingers at the paranoid for misinterpreting people's motivations. On the other hand, the publishers and software developers are getting a wee bit aggressive in their attempts to lock down, monitor, and market to consumers. There have also been cases where that aggression crosses the line to abusive to the rights of consumers and even civil rights.