Does copyright have a future in the digital age? Or are new technologies steadily making it obsolete? As the copying of digital texts, audio, and video grows cheaper, the restrictions needed to enforce copyright grow more expensive and invasive. What are the implications of easy digital copying and storage for public policy? How can copyright be preserved in the digital age, and is it even worth preserving?
To discuss these issues, we’ve brought in Rasmus Fleischer, one of the co-founders of Piratbyrån, or "The Piracy Bureau." Piratbyrån is a Swedish advocacy group opposed to invasive digital copyright laws. Although Piratbyrån does not engage in illegal activities, some of its members did help found The Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent tracker for downloading copyrighted material online. As such, both organizations have gained considerable notoriety.
In his lead essay, Fleischer discusses the proliferation of digital copying online – and the widening circle of laws designed to stop it. He questions whether these laws are enforceable without destroying the Internet’s openness and innovation, and whether technological fixes to impose traditional copyright will not end up destroying civil liberties. To comment on his essay, we’ve invited Timothy B. Lee, a Cato Institute adjunct scholar specializing in technology issues and civil liberties and a frequent contributor to Techdirt, and Ars Technica, as well as the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. We’ve also invited Professor Doug Lichtman, who teaches on law and technology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and who is co-author of Telecommunications Law and Policy, a textbook on the federal regulation of broadcast television, cable television, radio, telephony, and the Internet. Finally, we will also be hearing from Tom W. Bell, a law professor at Chapman University and author of the forthcoming book Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good.
To discuss these issues, we’ve brought in Rasmus Fleischer, one of the co-founders of Piratbyrån, or "The Piracy Bureau." Piratbyrån is a Swedish advocacy group opposed to invasive digital copyright laws. Although Piratbyrån does not engage in illegal activities, some of its members did help found The Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent tracker for downloading copyrighted material online. As such, both organizations have gained considerable notoriety.
In his lead essay, Fleischer discusses the proliferation of digital copying online – and the widening circle of laws designed to stop it. He questions whether these laws are enforceable without destroying the Internet’s openness and innovation, and whether technological fixes to impose traditional copyright will not end up destroying civil liberties. To comment on his essay, we’ve invited Timothy B. Lee, a Cato Institute adjunct scholar specializing in technology issues and civil liberties and a frequent contributor to Techdirt, and Ars Technica, as well as the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. We’ve also invited Professor Doug Lichtman, who teaches on law and technology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and who is co-author of Telecommunications Law and Policy, a textbook on the federal regulation of broadcast television, cable television, radio, telephony, and the Internet. Finally, we will also be hearing from Tom W. Bell, a law professor at Chapman University and author of the forthcoming book Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good.
