Friday, June 14, 2002
Patently Absurd
Gary L. Reback
Too many patents are just as bad for society as too few. There are those who view the patent system as the seedbed of capitalism--the place where ideas and new technologies are nurtured. This is a romantic myth. In reality, patents are enormously powerful competitive weapons that are proliferating dangerously, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has all the trappings of a revenue-driven, institutionalized arms merchant.
Discussion at Slashdot.
File Sharing: Innocent Until Proven Guilty
[...Stan] Liebowitz argues persuasively that record industry experts failed to prove their assertion that Napster was gutting industry revenues. But he also argues that eventually, digital downloading will be a serious threat to those revenues. Both topics will be part of his upcoming book, "Rethinking the Networked Economy," due to be published in August. But the specifics of those arguments may be somewhat altered from their form in the Cato paper, because when Salon caught up with Liebowitz, he was reexamining his data and wondering, Why isn't the record industry hurting more, already?
Discussion at Slashdot.
Harry Potter Released Unprotected
Warner Home Video has chosen not to copy-protect the home versions of its blockbuster movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in major markets, including the US and UK. This means people can go out and buy a DVD or VHS, connect the analogue output of their player to a recorder - either analogue or digital - and make free copies for friends.
Jenny Levine
Just as with videos, as long as the price point is low enough (which for the Harry Potter DVD it is), then this won't be a problem. Just like it wasn't a problem ten years ago. This is a good strategy, one the record industry needs to adopt. There won't be any problems with the LOTR DVD, and it will probably become the fastest selling DVD ever (at least until Spider-Man is released). There will be some piracy, but there won't be any problems. Maybe some industry execs are waking up to the fact that you just can't plug the analog hole after all.
Discussion at Slashdot.
