Interesting People mailing list archives
RIAA, MPAA, and Control of the Internet
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 20:17:17 -0400
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 16:40:30 -0700 (PDT) From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com> Subject: RIAA, MPAA, and Control of the Internet To: dave () farber net Cc: lauren () vortex com Dave, It may be useful to back up for a minute and look at these issues a bit more broadly. Let's start with a pair of basic premises (with which all may not agree). First, when individuals make publicly available copies of music, movies, and the like in manners that exceed their legitimate fair use rights, they may be committing a crime (note however, that defining the scope of fair use rights remains a highly contentious exercise). Second, the folks at the RIAA, MPAA, and other organizations who have been asserting escalating demands on ISPs, Internet users, and Congress are not stupid, nor evil. They are, in the main, simply terrified. They see their business models of long standing gradually turning to vapor under pressure from the ever greater capabilities of the Net and particularly broadband connections, not to mention encryption (more on this latter point in a minute). Like many who came before them, threatened by printing presses, copying machines, phonographs, and telephones, they are attempting to shape and retard the new technologies in a manner that best meets *their* perceived interests. This is utterly natural and expected human behavior. It was entirely predictable that P2P networks would be attacked as "useless for legitimate purposes," and that "third-rail" issues like pornography would be dragged into the arguments. This is standard operating procedure in the political realm, and make no mistake, this is at least as much a political battle as a technological one. In general, any systems that dilute centralized control over Internet users' communications will be seen as dangerous by those entities (in both the commercial and governmental realms) who want to monitor and control the speech and activities of users. Nor have we seen the full extent of the "weaponry" that will be brought to bear by either side. "Copyright flags," proposals to hobble A/D (Analog to Digital) converters, and a range of other efforts to try "nail down" the Internet will be flowing forth. At some point, we can expect to see the reemergence of broad-based attacks on the use of encryption, since crypto and related techniques can render moot many of the proposed controls. Yet the outcome of this particular struggle is probably preordained, so long as we resist attempts to implement draconian measures that would reduce the Internet to an impotent toy. Entertainment industry groups and ordinary Internet users all have legitimate rights and concerns. But regardless of whose side you find the most appealing, the fundamental nature of these technologies suggests that heavy-handed controls cannot be implemented without essentially destroying the basic usefulness of the Net. That's one golden-egg laying goose we should avoid slaughtering at all costs. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org http://www.pfir.org/lauren Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
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- RIAA, MPAA, and Control of the Internet Dave Farber (Sep 08)