Copyright law does not need to be updated in any way, except perhaps to
reverse some of the mistakes made in the last few years, such as the
disasterous Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provision.
There is no technological way to defy the original intent of copyright without
also violating the original "old fashioned" copyright laws. There never will
be any such technological threat.
But it is possible to defy that intent by passing new laws, or by legitimizing
Digital Restrictions Management systems. Government should not be creating new
crimes by outlawing things that have been legal up to now.
Government should not be helping copyright holders to prevent their works from
falling into the Public Domain by legitimizing the use of technological measures to
keep works from being accessible in the future. This defeats the intent of
copyright.
Government should not be helping copyright holders to prevent their works from
falling into the Public Domain by continuously increasing the duration
of copyright for indefinate periods. This defeats the intent of copyright.
Government should not change the implementation of copyright law in any way
that is incompatable with its intent as described in the Constitution, unless
a Constitutional Ammendment is passed to that effect.
Repeal the anticircumvention provision of DMCA, and do not enact any additional
laws that mandate or legitimize Digital Restrictions. If the Senate feels it must
take a stand on Digital Restrictions Management, then outlaw it, as it almost always violates
the intent of copyright, in favor of the copyright holder. Remember that copyright
has always been a quid-pro-quo arrangement where the holder gets special rights
for a limited time, in exchange for something. Don't lose sight of what the
public is supposed to get out the deal.
|