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Lessig on Blogs, Eldred and his Audi TT
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posted by mpawlo
on Thursday July 17, @05:32PM
from the brain-picking dept.
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Professor Lawrence "Larry" Lessig
is a famous character in the international cyberlaw community.
Professor Lessig has been involved in a wide area of subjects, ranging
from shrinkwrap-legislation (in the early days) to ICANN, copyright and
whether code is law. Greplaw has picked Professor Lessig's brain for
some updates on his most recent endeavours. |
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# Who is Lawrence Lessig?
Son of a capitalist, husband of a civil rights lawyer.
# Why?
Because of a boot sector error I believe.
# Which are the most important cyberlaw policy issues of 2003?
The same as the most important cyberlaw issues in 1999: how the technologies
of the net will transform this tool of free culture into a tool of
increasingly total control.
# There seems to be a lot going on, software patentability, the SCO war
against GNU/Linux and IBM, the case against Aimster, Ashcroftian
initiatives such as total information awareness and the entire ICANN mess.
How do you keep track of things?
Many sources, blogs first, triangulating always.
# If a Greplaw reader wants to engage in cyberlaw policy issues what can
one do but obviously donating to the EFF?
Blog. Then blog some more. Give some money to EFF, or the Free Software
Foundation. Then blog about it.
# What is the purpose of the
Lessig blog?
The hardest problem is figuring out how to explain these issues. I come from
a tradition (academics) that doesn't do it very well. I'm trying to learn
how to learn and explain at the same time. Blogs is the technology.
# Does it meet your expectations so far?
Far surpassed.
# Don't you think that there is a risk that blogging creates a
bumpersticker environment where deep, well-thought arguments are tuned down
in exchange for rapid, tounge-in-cheek commentary?
There is that risk. And if norms don't develop to temper that risk, then it
will be a reality. But I'm not convinced that this will be the reality.
Blogs offer an easy way into an issue, and an inviting style for getting
people to read further.
# The Eldred case was lost, but the work seems to go on. Can you tell us what the current Eldred case status is?
The first Eldred case is over. We have a second continuing in Colorado, and
expect to be announcing a third in the fall. This litigation will not end
until the Court gets it right.
The legislative response is also continuing. We got a bill introduced in
June with 3 sponsors. The campaign to increase that sponsorship continues.
# When we met last summer you said that the EU needs to give the U.S. a
good example of how to reframe the copyright debate. Now the entire EU is
implementing the European Copyright Directive, based on the same WIPO
priniciples that the DMCA derives from. Thus, it looks like the battle for
balanced "lagom" copyright is lost in both Europe and the U.S.. So, who
will reframe the debate and when?
Europe needs to recognize the total failure of democracy that "the EU" now
represents. When Europeans actually control their government, then something
other than Hollywood will rule the EU parliament.
# Speaking of copyright - what would a Lessig balance of copyright look
like? Would you regulate books and computer programs different?
14 year term, renewable to 28 for all but computer programs.
Deposit requirement.
Registration requirement.
Vastly limited "derivative rights".
10 years for software max, if and only if, the source code is deposited.
No copyright protection at all for any software whose source code is not
deposited.
# You are the chairman of the board and co-founder of Creative Commons. This initative is getting a lot of
attention, but it seems that it's mostly popular with bloggers and not as
popular with creators and authors of other types of works (i.e. music,
books). Is this a correct assumption and if so - why do you think this has
happened?
CC is successful wherever people get it. Bloggers got it first. We're
increasing the range of technologies that would enable other artists to use
and deploy CC work. I'm quite confident that as we do that, we'll see an
increasingly broad range of adoption.
# You have new book in the works, can you give us a glimpse on what it will
deal with?
The title is Free Culture. It is about the battle to restore balance and
limits over the extraordinary regulation of culture that now defines "free
societies."
# You have engaged in the antispam movement and even put your own position
at stake with your proposition for a Bounty on Spammers.
Seriously - is spam such a big issue? Compared to what you are doing with
copyright and your thoughts on 'code as law', the spam issue seems to me to be
a relatively small one. Why should we care about spam policy?
Spam is an important issue, both because spam is an extraordinary burden,
and because the solution to the "problem" of spam is a perfect example of
how law and technology should interact more generally.
# In Europe your most acclaimed work is that of Code and other laws of
Cyberspace. However, it seems to me that you want to focus on copyright
issues and that you are not making the code as architecture and law
argument that often anymore. Still a lot of people have not yet heard it.
Are you satisfied with leaving the preaching in this respect entirely to
Richard M Stallman? I think people may be intimidated by his beard.
I continue to repeat that message, as often as I can.
# You seem to be travelling the world quite extensively, giving lectures
and presentations all over the world. A friend met you in Brussels the
other day where you gave a presentation of the dangers of software
patentability. Still you maintain your blog, write op-eds and books. What
is your day-job and how do you manage?
Learning to teach is my day job. There's no good evidence that I'm managing.
# Do you have any tips to other workoholics, jealous of your stamina?
12 steps.
# Workoholics Anonymous, that is. Well, speaking of codependency - what's with this Declan McCullagh love-hate affair? Not even your wife
got an entire chapter in your widely acclaimed Code and other laws of
cyberspace, but Declan did. And now you've made him judge and champion of
the Lessig Bounty on Spammers challenge. What's this about? It looks a bit
crazy to me, to be completely frank.
"Declan" is the name of an attitude that happens to be held by "Declan
McCullagh." He's a decent sort, and yes, I trust his judgment about my job.
But it may be crazy.
# If there was no Lessig, who should we turn to in the matters discussed in
this article?
A million great minds, including Siva Vaidhyanathan, Jamie Boyle, Jessica
Litman, Pam Samuelson, Mark Lemley, and many others. But turn first to the
blogs.
# I read somewhere that you are driving an Audi TT. That's a car for girls.
Okay, that is not really a question, but someone had to break the news!
Most great things in the world are for girls. I'm happy to embrace as many
as I can.
Professor Lawrence Lessig was interviewed by Mikael Pawlo.
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