It will be interesting to see exactly which customs the Vatican is going to allow from the past rich five centuries of Anglican worship, life and thought.
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the people vs. copyrightThe future of copyright is being fought out between two polarised factions. Music and film producers like Jack Valenti are looking for harsher ways to deter digital copying: the users and programmers, like Richard Stallman, say copyright has no place in a digital age. In this debate we work towards defining practical solutions for the future, with contributions from Siva Vaidhyanathan, Brian Zisk from the Future of Music Coalition, Jason Toynbee, and 9-time Grammy nominated singer, Janis Ian. Also see: the interactive copyright timeline.
The digital commons creates abundance, but at what cost to community?
Andrew Gowers, commissioned by the British government to map the next generation's intellectual-property framework, explains his thinking to Becky Hogge – and leaves her feeling that the "copyfight" for a public domain of information has only just begun.
Last weekend’s pro-piracy rallies in Stockholm were a surprise even to local copyright reformers. George South asks, how many peer to peer file sharers does it take to swing an election?
Yochai Benkler's new book "The Wealth of Networks" is both precise and provocative in defining afresh the role of peer production in the networked information economy. Christian Ahlert, public project lead of Creative Commons England and Wales, interviews him.
Google stands accused of copyright infringement by two major American authors’ associations and a French newswire. But the tools the company provides have done more to promote global access to information than any other. Here, librarians, lawyers, legislators and thinkers discuss the rights and wrongs of an internet giant.
The pioneering Global Voices initiative hosted bloggers from Algeria to Zambia at a conference in London. An impressed Becky Hogge reflects on the challenges it may soon face.
The Open Rights Group campaign for online freedom of information, individual liberty and the integrity of the public domain is a new stage in the defence of digital rights, says Becky Hogge.
Open standards are just as important as open debate: Becky Hogge explains why openDemocracy recommends the Mozilla Firefox web browser.
Since its inception openDemocracy has set the standard for accessible and informed deliberation of globally important issues. Now it is truly both open and democratic. Siva Vaidhyanathan welcomes openDemocracy to the Creative Commons.
On World Intellectual Property Day, Becky Hogge speaks to Cory Doctorow, who has been campaigning for reform at the World Intellectual Property Organisation for two years, about the strains put on the democratic process by the arrival of dissenting voices.
The struggle over intellectual property is the concern of more than knowledge economy specialists, says Becky Hogge: it is a contest over freedom as well as technology.
The imposition of punitive new intellectual property regimes represents a corporate assault on public culture. The connection between capitalism and copyright helps us to understand why it is happening; while the reality of ‘social authorship’ offers a way to open up new possibilities for creative workers in a reformed copyright system.
Since May under the deliberately provocative title ‘the people vs copyright’ we have been discussing copyright laws in the digital age. Bill Thompson ponders, summarises and wraps up the debate. If things are moving as quickly in the intellectual property rights world as he suggests, whether it stays wrapped is open to question.
In managing copyright, technology is better than law. The balance between artistic and business interests and users who enjoy free access can be preserved by giving the market time to work.
The UK government is preparing to implement the European Copyright Directive. If the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act seems harsh, the UK Patent Office has even more stringent measures in mind to enforce a copy-protection regime that will inhibit free inquiry.
Pirating and copying was part of everyday life in the small island state of Trinidad and Tobago until 1996. The effect of new laws was to disturb its distinctive calypso and carnival traditions and to threaten its educational system. For a young engineering student, there was only one way to go: adapt and survive.
openDemocracy’s copyright debate has clarified an issue too often mired in unhelpful polarisation between radicals and conservatives.
Music, like water, is naturally free. But just as money helps ensure a clean and safe supply, so the best guarantee of music’s freedom is rewarding its wellspring, the composer.
After the Siva Vaidhyanathan talk at openDemocracy with BlueEar.com on 6 June 2002, there was a lively discussion. Here are some extracts, by Solana Larsen.
The threat posed to the recorded music industry by unauthorised download is an article of faith to many insiders. It is also a myth, says this ageless independent singer-songwriter: freedom is good for artists and for business.
I think that our debate has shown yet again just how little the two sides in this discussion understand each other, and in doing so has justified our chosen name.
What troubles me is the use of the headline, The People Vs. Copyright, to frame what should be a serious public debate about copyright.
Copyright benefits publishers, service providers and biotech companies, but in this scientist’s view, it is a wicked obstacle to scientific progress.
Entertainment companies ought to come up with technology that is sound and accomplishes what they want without coercion. But some of the problems they want to solve are impossible. Eric Raymond talks to Solana Larsen.
Cyberspace is an essentially cynical medium, says the leading internet thinker Siva Vaidhyanathan, in a talk presented at the London offices of openDemocracy on 6 June 2002. But an illusion-free awareness of the character of the net paradoxically opens up the ethical discussion needed to guide and regulate it.
The Internet could help channel more money to musicians. But the record industry is sabotaging the process to remain in control. Brian Zisk talks to Solana Larsen.
The entire system is computerised, so why not make a royalty pool based on more than guesswork? Even the major record labels cannot deny that it makes sense. Walter McDonough talks to Solana Larsen.
The fusion of the entertainment industry with consumer electronics is creating a breed of giants which is trampling underfoot historically-established guarantees of moral rights and fair use. Is there a way forward that can adequately protect the interests both of authors and consumers?
Government must understand the values of digital technology and use their regulatory powers to shape Internet space
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