Dave Winer pointed out the following article from CBS News. "Support for the First Amendment has eroded significantly since Sept. 11 and nearly half of Americans now think the constitutional amendment on free speech goes too far in the rights it guarantees, according to a new poll."
Separately, I spent some time this weekend rereading parts of Lessig's "The Future of Ideas" and pondering some of the back and forth on the web recently. At this point my sense of something needing to be done has gone up, but my sense of exactly what to do hasn't firmed as much. I commend Lessig for putting out proposals and starting the discussion, but don't find myself compelled by the proposed solutions (maybe as a part of a bigger approach, but not alone). More thinking to do.
The issue is that the public sentiment noted in the CBS poll is going to make it difficult to gain broad support for dramatic changes in public policy. Face it - copyrights and patents are not on people's minds as the anniversary of September 11 approaches.
Some thoughts brewing, will maybe jell over the next days.
10:05:10 PM 
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