Sparks fly over copyright at Tech Policy Summit

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Like patriotism, "innovation" is the last refuge of scoundrels.

Whenever government contemplates restrictions in defense of IP rights, the argument that preventing theft inhibits innovation is likely to be heard. Actually, the best way to encourage innovation would be to make activities illegal. The ingenuity used to evade the law has had beneficial side-effects.

Of course, the companies whose property has been stolen have been both heavy-handed and ineffectual. The RIAA's connection with p2p is approximately the Federal government's relation to speakeasies.

So, looking at this quote:

Per von Lohmann, the DMCA safe harbors recognize the impossibility of accurately guessing, in each instance, what?s authorized and what?s not:

[Quote from Mr. von Lohmann:]

But for the DMCA safe harbors, there would be no Google, or Yahoo!, or eBay, or Amazon. At least, not as we know them today. Tech companies need Washington. The safe harbors are there to make these companies happen. And where are the companies located? Here, in the U.S. We did a good job of relieving companies of the kind of technological risk involved in guessing.

[End quote.]

So it's the government's job to protect entrepreneurs from rights holders. And in fact those entrepreneurs have built their business plans on risky use of IP.

Do they know that? Okay, Google is blithe about what the companies take and keep, and has the Court cases to prove it. But which of the other companies knows the exhilaration of sailing into a safe harbor while flouting the law?


I think p2p as we know it today was built and is maintained by the foolishness of the content companies. People were impatient to obtain what they would have paid for, and so were forced to accept content for free.

But having property gives one the right to be stupid. On balance, I don't think that stealing an industry's main product is a way to encourage the economy.

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 03/31/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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