Lessig chat hit with automatic censorship

Bogus Copyright Claim Silences Yet Another Larry Lessig YouTube Presentation | Techdirt.

Lessig recently gave a “webside chat” on the usual issues of copyright and fair use that was posted to YouTube.  The video included clips of music that is covered under copyright, but in this context appear to be fair use. The details aren’t immediately clear, but it seems that Google’s automatic copyright filters stripped the audio track from the video (though it is now available again — with a link to purchase the music featured in the video).

This is an incredibly timely coincidence with my last post about the censorship of digital speech. In this case, there wasn’t even a button to push–an automatic filter indiscriminately altered what Lessig had to say.

The democratization of web publishing, I believe, is an inherently good thing. It would be shameful if speech gets quashed because of a business extending its power over any medium it touches.

Techdirt isn’t usually a source I like to cite, but when Lessig tweets a story about himself, you know it must be legit.

Shift from print

Internet overtakes print in news consumption among Americans.

Between this report and the Post Office’s request to cut home delivery, it would seem as though we are in the midst of a huge shift away from print. I wouldn’t say that it is going away, but this begins to highlight the importance of a number of issues in information freedom (neutrality and access to name two). The architecture of physical information has certain values we may want to ensure are carried into the digital world. If those in power were able to control what appeared on the page at the touch of a button, imagine how different the world might look.

Time to re-read Code and donate to the EFF 🙂