IP and the Net
p2pnet.net Opinion:- Over the past year a torrent of books, papers and initiatives flooded the internet all on the same subject: How to deal with Cyberspace and Intellectual Property (IP)? I’ve made up my mind about the solution a long time ago. But let’s just check my sanity with other opinions.
The History:
When confronted with the Internet, most people look to the past for answers. As (legal) experts and historians detail IP history, they all make a rather startling discovery: the Internet has returned copyrights to the dark ages and they find that in medieval times, copyrights infringements were as uncontrollable as they seem to be in Cyberspace today.
So maybe it’s time for a fresh start.
The Experts:
There are two aspects one has to bear in mind when listening to the “Experts”.
Most of them have legal backgrounds which only allow them to approach a problem from a certain perspective, mostly based on a known set of rules and codes. This brings me to their weakness. Their tendencies to comply with rules and regulations can confine their thinking. When faced with the internet, you see the “Experts” scrabbling to make sense of it all. So in reading their solutions, I’m seldom surprised by their conclusions: one should always question their motives.
The Problem:
Now, what exactly is the problem with internet and copyrights infringement?
Sharing. And sharing is inherent to the internet.
Sharing is not trading or taking. Sharing on the internet is making an identical copy of a file while keeping the original. Translation: I give something up that will also stay in my possession. Trading: I give something up to get something else back. Taking: I give something up, period.
The core problem of sharing is amplified by such issues as Authenticity and Speed.
Authenticity: An author’s first concern is protecting his/her work’s authenticity. Up until now, we’ve been marginally successful in our effort to protect the authenticity of tangible IP products. In the digital age this ability has severely degenerated.
Speed: the speed in which knowledge is spread across the internet makes it difficult to control. Basically, the moment something is available in Cyberspace, it’s ours. Thus, the enforcement of any protective measure is doomed to fail.
The Solutions:
In essence, any p2p based solution will be no more than a short-term fix. The larger problem of Cyberspace versus IP would only be perpetuated if those fixes would be enforced. In choosing a solution, one should first answer this question: Should we approach Cyberspace the same as we do the Real World? Better yet, will the same rules and regulations also be effective in Cyberspace?
Free Copyrights
Jessica Litman is generally credited with the proposal that all non-commercial uses of copyrights should be free. In my opinion, this approach is the main reason why the internet works. The main problem is that most prevailing business models, which are based in the real world, can not, or will not, incorporate this concept.
Government, Levies & Tax
A comprehensive study by William Fisher III based a solution on Government intervention. In explaining the varying levels of Government involvement, he concluded that establishing a tax-and-royalty regime could work. Yet, if only instituted in the United States, this will conflict with other legal jurisdictions and in the end, will defeat its purpose. In all fairness, in my opinion putting boundaries on the internet is not the way to go.
DRM & Market Forces
This is free market thinking. The Industry would like their current business models to prevail on the internet and regulate it with Digital Rights Management. DRM will not work (pdf). Sony recently admitted as much. Also, using market forces as indicators of consumers wishes will eventually backfire. But rights management and market driven IP products have a long established history. So, taking DRM out of the game would be premature but would not necessarily hurt the industry.
More Legislation
The US and Europe have been pushing hard (Induce Act and Software patents) for more legislation. This has met with furious resistance – and for good reason. Rushing legislation to meet current demands will only stifled future innovation.
International Governance
The upcoming World Summit on the Information Society will try to make an effort to take internet out of the hands of local governments. ICANN is a good example of how this might work. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers now manages the allocation of IP addresses and oversees the sale of domain names. This system, in essence, puts the faith of Cyberspace into the hands of a few.
The Approach
A quick fix for p2p isn’t the answer. Personally, although I’d have gone for a tax-royalty scheme by taxing the internet provider, that won’t do either. So my solution would be to incorporate all of the above mention solutions – but with one major difference: The approach.
Step one: Treat Cyberspace as a fresh start.
Essentially, we have to get rid off all conventional wisdom and approach the internet as if IP doesn’t exist. We have to take a fresh look at every new bit of information entering Cyberspace.
Step Two: Just like nature, let Internet take its course. It will balance itself out.
The next killer application or business model is just around the corner. Let’s be patient and see where things lead to. Current atrocities (child porn and beheadings) aside, we should keep our interference to a minimum.
Step Three: When interfering, target people not technology.
Almost all technology has a legitimate purpose. If guns are legal, then why should we attack p2p? When targeting people we should make a clear distinction between the programmer and the criminal; and, between curiosity and intent to do harm, even when we’re looking at virus makers or hackers.
Step Four: focus on technological standards, not legislative standards.
When talking about governance of Cyberspace, technical standards should prevail over legislative rules. Give control back to programmers and internet entrepreneurs, and let their imagination fly.
Step Five: Take baby steps
Take small steps and don’t leap forward in taking measures that will affect Cyberspace.
But my ultimate solution is: do nothing!!
Raymond Blijd - fk2w
November 12th, 2004 at 3:02 am
“But my ultimate solution is: do nothing!!”
Well, it is usually prudent to always do something or other.
Paying attention for instance.
It’s not necessarily anything big, but enough to prevent your civil rights from being swiped from under your feets without your noticing.
Just because you want nothing to change and thus do nothing doesn’t mean others will do nothing. Just to balance others who want to make changes you need to counterbalance so there is no change.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance and all that.
November 16th, 2004 at 1:59 pm
If you look at the history of copyright law you will notice that taking affirmative actions have seldom had a satisfactory result. I suggest just doing the opposite for awhile.
Raymond Blijd http://www.fk2w.com