mitchstoltz

Hi, this is Mitch at EFF. People in the entertainment industries are still talking about how to create a blacklist of websites they don't like. They seem to be trying to get payment processors and ad networks to enforce a blacklist without the government requiring them to do it (as SOPA/PIPA would have done).

As Upton Sinclair wrote, "it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." Many of our policymakers depend on campaign contributions from industries that benefit from locking down the Internet and making it "safe" for their twentieth-century business models. It's lobbyists who "educate" Congress, and money grants access.

We can counter that with organization, with technology, and with lots of citizen participation. Also, there are people in government who DO understand the Internet and how vital it is, and we can give them our support, advice, and votes!

This is Mitch at EFF. Patent and copyright laws weren't written on the tablets at Mount Sinai. They can be as broad or as narrow as Congress decides. With sensible durations, lower penalties, strong exceptions like fair use and first sale, and penalties for abusing IP rights, these laws can do what they were meant to do, and not lock down the Internet.

Focus on customers. Patents and copyrights without a thriving business and loyal customers are just worthless paper. And the surest way to alienate customers is to build a business on litigation.

The short answer is yes. Things like reducing copyright penalties ($150,000 per work with no proof of actual harm is insane), and making it legal to break DRM (digital locks) for legal purposes are totally feasible if Internet users unite in support of them.

The slightly longer answer is that legislation is not the best solution to every problem. Technology, volunteerism, changing and communicating new community norms can be just as powerful.