Eventually I’ll crank out my take on the Eldred decision that gifts the entertainment cartel a virtually perpetual copyright. For now, Doc Searls has written an excellent analysis over at the American Open Technology Consortium (of which he is president).
Doc’s point is that the entertainment industry reframed the question metaphorically, in terms of property. While the lawyers will argue until the cows come home about the merits of the statement that copyright is property, the concept is easily grasped and makes a certain sense at a simple level. If there’s one thing that the average American understands, it’s property rights. The notion that there is a collective right to intangible property sooner or later—after a limited time according to the U.S. Constitution—evades most of us.
Very highly recommended.
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