Bear Flag Republic Radio Weblog

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Abe Lincoln and the Internet Pirates by Michael Eisner

"Abraham Lincoln would have loved the internet. But he would have hated the internet pirates who commandeer its high-speed circuits to steal....

But he undoubtedly would have disdained those who go to sites with names such as Gnutella, Madster, BearShare, Limewire, Swaptor, Morpheus or Rapigator to pilfer the intellectual property of others." [FT.com]

Commentary from John Robb:

"Michael Eisner quotes Lincoln as a defender of intellectual property rights.  He is probably right about that.  However, he would have choked on the idea that term of protection for copyrights would last 95 years or more!  That's more than the life expectancy of 99% of humanity or nearly 4 generations of Americans!  This is the equivalent of saying that a copyright's protection lasts until "hell freezes over."  Certainly this isn't what the framers had in mind when they enshrined the protection of intellectual property for a "limited time" in the constitution.  There isn't a reading of the constitution that could conclude otherwise." [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

My favorite quote from Eisner's editorial:

"These disturbing trends can be reversed. New technologies can be developed by computer companies to make it harder for the hackers to hack. New business models can be devised by entertainment companies to support the consumer's clear desire to access and own content in new and exciting ways. And legislation can be enacted to establish clearly that, just as people pay for fruit at their local fruit stand, they must pay for music or films or books or poems or software on their local hard drive. Most important, what is needed is a common conviction that theft of all things is wrong."

Note the way he dances around without ever guaranteeing the transfer of existing fair use rights to the digital world. His "new business models" statement refers only to access and ownership in "new and exciting ways," - not a replication of existing ways. I'm sure to Eisner de-fanged PCs that are really just WebTVs is indeed "new and exciting." However, I sure don't see it that way.

We've seen a very clearly delineated path that the entertainment industry would like to see the tech industry follow in order to guarantee their precious intellectual property rights for 100 years or more. I have yet to see something similar from the entertainment industry detailing the path they will take to ensure a consumer's fair use rights. Funny how they keep side-stepping that little scenario, isn't it?

Another question: if they agree that someday a work could fall out of copyright (100+ years), how would your locked-down machines know its rights had changed? Another little loophole for which I don't see anyone making accommodation. I guess if we don't think of it now, then copyright laws really will last forever!

And it's not like I would expect it in this type of opinion fluff, but still no recognition from the entertainment industry of the role libraries play in society. Their digital road map for the future should include how they plan to accommodate existing circulation rights for libraries, too.

comments < 6:45:31 AM        >

Apple Ousts Coder for Being Young. A young developer is booted from participating in Apple's open-source project because he is a minor. What does this mean for other young coders? By Katie Dean. [Wired News]
comments < 6:44:22 AM        >