Berners-Lee pushes Congress on nondiscriminatory Web | CNET News.com
Berners-Lee testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee is interesting in itself, but his comments on copyright and DRM were surprising to me. After being asked how creators might be compensated in a world free of DRM, the following exchange ensused (pardon the long quote):
Berners-Lee said a better approach would be to devise software capable of tracking whether a person owns a particular file. “It won’t stop you, but it will let you know if you’re playing music you shouldn’t listen to because you backed up someone else’s machine and you got access to it,” he said.
“Is that not the equivalent of having the speed limit but no enforcement of the speed limit?” Bono replied.
Berners-Lee suggested closed DRM regimes were akin to enforcing a speed limit by requiring the offending car to “grind to a halt” and added, “I am inclined to try to make software that allows you to do the right thing first.”
I’ve thought a great deal about the similarities between copyright and speed limit laws — both reach into the realm of private life, both are frequently igored. What I like about Berners-Lee’s response is the idea of making code be a tool to set soft social and legal boundaries. Rather than tightly lock materials, or rely on “educating” the public about copyright, this solution might generate more acceptance of copyright by alerting users to the boundaries of copyright while still leaving space for ordinary and possibly creative use. Using code to structure perceptions of law in society — what an amazing idea.
Old news:
On the ownership of C-Span materials, Patry’s post about originality shouln’t be missed.