[free-sklyarov] "Brave New Battleground" Over Digital Copyright: US News & World Report

[Spiderwoman]

It isn't the artist anyone is really concerned about. The recording artist
might make barely enough to survive, especially at first, with a very large
portion   going into the pockets of promoters and other companies. It is
more a matter of control over the funds that are normally funneled into
those pockets that is of a real concern. What is happening now is that the
technology exists to remove some control from the recording industry and put
it in a place where it should have been in the first place.

Regards,

Mary E. Dixon
_______________________________________
Spiderwoman Web Design, Graphics, IT Services
http://www.spiderwomanwebdesign.com
            770-955-0882
----- Original Message -----
From: "James S. Huggins (Free Sklyarov)" <FreeSklyarov at ZName.com>
To: "Free Sklyarov List" <free-sklyarov at zork.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 6:53 PM
Subject: [free-sklyarov] "Brave New Battleground" Over Digital Copyright: US
News & World Report


>
> Here is an open door . . .
>
> James S. Huggins
>
>
> http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010910/opinion/10atlarge.htm
>
> Reply to: letters at usnews.com
>
> World At Large 9/10/01
>
> Brave new battleground
>
> Fred von Lohmann loves his music. In the car, at home, and at work,
> the San Francisco lawyer cycles through a collection of some 800 CDs.
> Since he can't carry his 200-pound music library around town, he
> makes copies: one for his car, one for his computer, one for his MP3
> player, an archival backup-you get the idea. All of this is perfectly
> legal under current copyright law. So it's no surprise that von Lohmann
> fiercely opposes a new experiment by the recording industry, an
> experiment he thinks will restrict the rights of millions of consumers.
>
> Armed with the power of new digital technology, the recording
> industry is now planning to encrypt its music CDs to prevent
> duplication. The industry isn't worried about the Fred von Lohmanns
> of the world. (Well, that's not entirely true-von Lohmann has locked
> horns with the recording industry as an attorney for the Electronic
> Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes civil liberties
> on the Internet.  But more on that later.) Record companies say their
> real concern is piracy-the widespread swapping of copyrighted works
> over the Internet without any royalties going to the artists who created
> them. Of course, the recording industry isn't alone in this concern.
> Free digital copies of American Pie 2, Planet of the Apes, and just about
> any other box office hit, along with bestselling novels, are ripe for
> picking off the Web.
>
> To fight back, copyright owners have begun using technological tools
> to lock up CDs, DVDs, E-books, cable and satellite broadcasts-nearly
> every digital medium-encrypting them in ways that could soon determine
> when and how we watch and listen.
>
> All this has led to a collision between industries that fear losing
billions
> and consumers who fear losing "fair use" of the copyrighted works they
> buy. Who's right? How do we strike a workable balance?
>
> Tipping the scales. Balance is key. Fundamentally, copyright law
> represents a weighing of the free flow of ideas to benefit the public
> against the rights of artists, musicians, and writers to profit from their
> work. Too little protection, and entrepreneurs lose the incentive to
> create. Too much, and public speech is stifled.
>
> What brought this issue to the fore now are the dizzying changes in
> technology we've seen in the past few years, starting with the Internet,
> which opened the door to people who wanted to record and trade vast
> amounts of material. But the same technologies might soon restrict
> entertainment in ways never imagined. In an effort to block mass
> swapping of copyrighted works, industries are spending millions on
> "digital rights management." But so far, this anti-pirating technology
> can't tell whether I'm copying a DVD to sell it illegally or whether I'm a
> film-studies professor preparing clips for class.
>
> No matter. Already, movie studios are backing a new equipment standard
that
> will make digital recording nearly impossible. Industries are also
> redefining what it means to "own" a copy of a work. For instance, just
> compare paper books with electronic books. Once you've purchased a paper
> book, you can read it anywhere you want, keep it as long as you want, lend
> it to a friend, or sell it for cash. None of this need be true with an E-
> book. Publishers decide whether you can read it only on your computer at
> home, or whether you can transfer it to a portable E-book reader. They
> decide whether you can print any pages. They decide whether you can make a
> backup copy. Right now, the E-book market is small, so the sting of such
> changes is minor. But Hollywood is planning on delivering movies via the
> Internet in a similar way.
>
> All these copyright technologies are protected by the 1998 Digital
> Millennium Copyright Act. The law prohibits cracking these technologies
> or helping others crack them by providing decoding software. Industry
> says the law gives artists necessary protection from piracy. Critics say
> the law leaves consumers in a bind: Although they continue to have the
> rights to make limited copies of music and movies, they can be
> prosecuted for using any of the tools necessary to do so. Von Lohmann
> and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are currently challenging the
> legality of the statute in federal court.
>
> Clearly, the technological landscape is changing quickly, and these are
> just the opening stages of a crucial debate over policies that will
> determine how we experience media in the 21st century. Is industry
> trying to choke progress or simply preserve intellectual property? Are
> Internet activists paving the path to the future or just trying to get
> something for nothing? We invite you to share your thoughts on the
> subject as part of our ongoing World At Large series. We can be found
> at letters at usnews.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
>
> -The Editors
>
> -----------------------
> NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
> distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
> interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and
> educational purposes only.
> -----------------------
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