Monthly Archives: August 2004

Whales

“A lot of people would like to think of whales as philosopher-poets swimming around the oceans thinking deep thoughts, and that is not true,” said Dr. Roger Payne. “But for some reason, people are deeply, deeply impressed by these animals. It may be their size, and grace has something to do with it. But there really is an air of mystery about them.”… Continue reading

Posted in eye | 5 Comments

The Balkanization of the Internet

So how often do you actually visit sites in other countries? How about in other languages? If you’re like many users, the answer may “not that often” (apologies to the foreign readers of Lessig Blog). Its a small sign of the Balkanization of the Internet, a process that is happening faster than anyone is noticing. What we once called a global internet is becoming, for many practical purposes, a collection of nation-state networks, still linked by the internet protocol, but for many purposes, separate. Some of the evidence:… Continue reading

Posted in ideas | 51 Comments

Piracy's Punishment

If it is true, first, that widespread piracy at some point diminishes the incentives for industry to invest in new works; And if it is true, second, that piracy is limited to a demographic, say, 15-25 year-olds (perhaps because people older than that are lazy or value their time more); Won’t the eventual response of industry be to simply begin investing in films like “On Golden Pond,” and music like “Air Supply, Greatest Hits part 6?” In other words, doesn’t piracy carry its own punishment? (And conversely, doesn’t paying brings its own rewards?) That’s how the rest of the market… Continue reading

Posted in ideas | 31 Comments

Cyber-Ethics Champion Code

Take the pledge here…. Continue reading

Posted in just plain weird | 34 Comments

The Telecom Act of 2006

Ongoing August chatter: what should the Telecom Act of 2006 look like? Below are 6 items and some of the papers making the rounds…. Continue reading

Posted in Telecom | 6 Comments

Question for Libertarians

An interesting question raised by comments: What do self-proclaimed libertarians say about intellectual property laws nowadays, and have things changed since the 1990s?… Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 20 Comments

Barlow

Whether you like him or he drives you nuts, John Perry Barlow is incapable of being boring. From his interview with Reason, on reality TV, intellectual propetry, and his decision to leave the Republican party: “If all ideas have to be bought, then you have an intellectually regressive system that will assure you have a highly knowledgeable elite and an ignorant mass.” “I think he�s [Kerry] been in the U.S. Senate long enough to have his backbone dissolved. … But I think Kerry will be somewhat better than Bush, if for no other reason than he is not on… Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Pay Per Use Society

Whenever I speak with librarians about fair use or the Copyright Act more generally, I inevitably hear them express concerns that we run the risk of becoming a pay per use society, one in which content is available only for a fee. I am concerned that the bookmobiles we all grew up with and their modern day equivalents will go the way of the eight track and the reel-to-reel, replaced by a world in which access to information will depend on the ability to pay and, worse, a world in which a payment gets you only a license to view… Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 72 Comments

New Legal Regime for VoIP

Next year, Congress will begin the difficult process of rewriting the Telecommunications Act of 1996. As a Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (as well as the Judiciary Committee), I see this exercise as an enormously valuable opportunity to fashion new federal guidelines for the era of Internet-based communications. In anticipation of this debate, I have joined with Representative Cliff Stearns of Florida in drafting H.R. 4757, the Advanced Internet Communications Services Act. The legislation would stimulate investment in, and encourage the rapid deployment of, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and other Advanced Internet Communcations Services. We begin… Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

New Legal Regime for Music File Sharing

When disruptive new technologies have emerged that changed the way in which consumers have gotten access to news and entertainment (e.g., radio and cable television), the existing legal structures of the Copyright Act often could not accommodate the challenges posed by the new technology. In the early case of piano rolls and later with radio and cable television, for example, Congress adopted compulsory licensing legislation as a means of appropriately compensating content owners while simultaneously encouraging widespread use of the new technologies. With P2P music file sharing, we have witnessed a range of dramatic responses from the content owning community:… Continue reading

Posted in ideas | 58 Comments