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This event held Thursday on digital media issues is a result of their collaboration on piracy and copyright and "Five Scenarios for Digital Media in a Post-Napster World." There have been several posts on this topic, from Derek, Matt and John Palfrey, who all attended, as well as Theo Emery/AP, Business Week, The Boston Globe and Martin LaMonica/cNet.
The conference presented five scenarios for moving forward. While reading the descriptions, I had the sense that although they spoke of five interested parties, creators, publishers, technology companies, ISPs, and the public, the proposal was written to favor the publishers, tech companies, and ISPs. Part of that is the language used. The proposal refers to the public as consumers, which I think minimizes the role of the public in these discussions. The public isn't just the people who will purchase the products of the creative industry (regularly referred to as "content," another word I have issues with). Theoretically, copyright serves the public. This idea is contained in both the Constitution and the Copyright Act. Copyright is a tool to increase creative productivity, because more creation is in the public's interest. I also think it's important to remember that the line between the public and the creators is a thin one. While they have different interests, people move fluidly between the two categories, which implies to me that the distinction isn't as great as it might appear.
...The five models are no change, property rights, tech defense, public utilities, and compulsory licenses, which were regularly referred to as "alternative compensation." I'm not sure why the other name was used. Perhaps alternative compensation sounds less scary than compulsory licensing.
Cary Sherman, President of the RIAA, and Fritz Attaway, VP of Government Relations and General Council for the MPAA didn't show, as they apparently feared travel issues because of the hurricane. This brings up a minor point. The Business Week/cNet piece has this:
In an interview with CNET News.com, RIAA President Cary Sherman said that the suits were intended to raise the awareness of the legal dangers in sharing music online and to change the prevailing culture of file swappers.
In the context of the article, describing the various discussions at the Berkman event, quoting others and then having this paragraph in the middle, it sounded to me like Sherman was there. Only from Derek's and Matt's posts was it explicit that he did not participate. I'm sure LaMonica meant to convey that Sherman wasn't there and the interview was separate from the conference, but if you didn't know he wasn't there, the article leads to the conclusion that he participated and did a special interview to the side with LaMonica.
Posted by Mary Hodder at September 20, 2003 06:02 PM