jsl used our newssubmit to tell us that Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig is fearing the current power struggle in the digital entertaiment industry and has announced he will fight against the large entertaiment companies, so they won't take control over the internet.
At businessweek.com we can find an interview where he gives his views and what he thinks will happen in the future (fear!) and what kind of actions he will take. Here is a part of the interview:
Q: What should Washington do? A: First in context of copyright, Congress should pass low fixed compulsory license fees for distribution of [music and entertainment] content on the Web. Those fees should not be tied to reporting every usage on the Web. They should be determined the same way they are now for radio -- according to a sampling that gives some idea of what music is being played. |
Second, Congress should repeal the 1998 DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which, among other things makes it a crime to circumvent copyright-protection technology]. We have no reason to believe that the market won't work well enough to prevent abuse. We don't need the federal government threatening prosecution.
Finally, Congress needs to not pass new legislation, like the [recently introduced] Hollings' bill that would mandate a police state in every computer [by requiring that copyright-protection mechanisms be embedded in PCs, CD players, and anything else that can play, record, or manipulate data]. (See BW Online, 3/27/02, "Guard Copyright, Don't Jail Innovation.")
And another important person that is fearing the current copyright struggles in the United States. Read the entire interview here.
Source: Businessweek.com
