A Copyfighter’s Musings

Jetlagged and busy, I can’t do a thorough enough job on Skylink yet.  Apologies.  I agree with many of Ernest’s points, though I think I’m happier, or at least more optimistic, about the door being opened for companies to successfully defend themselves under the DMCA.

For now, I want to direct your attention to a couple noteworthy docs.  First, read Dan Burk’s “Anti-circumvention Misuse,” which suggests an approach somewhat broader than the Skylink court’s.  Second, check out R. Anthony Reese’s article on the merging of access and copy controls.

Third, go back and read the discussions after the district court ruling.  In particular, follow the back and forth between Ernest and Doug Hudson (doogieh).  Hudson provides important counterpoints to Ernest’s take on the consistency of the opinion, and his points are even more germane now.

Filed by Derek Slater at 11:13 pm under General news
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See Peter Junger’s letter for details on the after the fact editing of Seth Finkelstein’s Greplaw interview.

This concerns me on a number of levels.  On a journalistic level, I think the edits are rather unbecoming of Greplaw. By inserting Mr. Godwin’s words into the middle of the interview, Greplaw reframes Seth’s words, creating false implications about what he actually said. Greplaw’s paraphrasing of Godwin, rather than directly quoting him, enhances this effect, for the implication about Seth’s words appears to come from Greplaw itself. Seth did not sign up for a point-counterpoint with his critics; in the context of an interview with a single person, these methods seem rather inappropriate. To go back and make these edits after the original posting seems even worse. If anything, Greplaw should have allowed Godwin to post a separate, follow-up response, directly quoting him, while allowing Seth to respond if necessary.

I’d be interested in hearing Greplaw’s side of things.  Perhaps there’s something I’m missing.

Filed by Derek Slater at 10:57 pm under Big Ideas
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