Letter to Cory Doctorow on Big Media

This pick for a technology adviser is no coincidence. Mr. Obama knew very well what he was doing when he campaigned: he was trying to be the hero of change that people would idealize and admire. But President Obama is a different person. From the moment he picked Biden as his running mate, the tables started to turn. Senator Biden, in contrast, in contrast to Mr. Obama, was a conservative Democrat who had supported the Iraq War and incidentally – one of the greatest representatives of the American film (MPAA) and recording (RIAA) industry in Congress.

Like the public interest representatives in Doctorow’s analysis, Professor Lessig has been basically cut off from the candidate he helped place on the Democratic ballot. President Obama has little connection to Lessig, neither through copyright views nor through Lessig’s work on fighting political corruption. In fact, President Obama has taken a stance towards copyright worse than his predecessor, an indicator of the sad reality of corruption in America’s leading liberal party.

When President Obama appointed two RIAA lawyers to top senior Justice Department positions, the Internet’s political and consumerist groups grew concerned, and the RIAA applauded the decision. A number of diverse consumer interest groups, including the EFF, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports), Internet Archive, Wikimedia Foundation (organization operating Wikipedia), and Public Knowledge, sent an open letter to President Obama about the conflict of interest. Especially considering the Justice Department’s recent intervention in a civil copyright infringement case on the side of the media corporations, how could we expect impartial interpretations of copyright? Such decisions could easily be attributed to simple error, so concern died down. But then these same groups become alarmed when President Obama hired three more RIAA lawyers, sending the political equivalent to the public interest groups as “get lost!”

Last Tuesday, Vice President Biden attended a private dinner held by MPAA lobbyists as the guest speaker. First, he stated that “piracy is pure theft,” a statement that is wrong both legally and morally. US law treats theft and copyright infringement as two very different actions with two different penalties. Copyright infringment can often be noncommercial, while theft by its nature never is. Morally, theft deprives the owner of something, while copyright infringement makes a second copy. If I stole your car, you would be deprived of a car and the ability to drive; if I copied your car, we could both drive. Secondly, he told the lobbyists that President Obama “will find the right person for intellectual property czar,” in reference to the newly-created copyright czar position established by the PRO-IP Act late last year. When Biden’s past history with the MPAA and RIAA is taken into consideration, along with the audience that he made the statement towards, “right” most likely appears to be one who is a puppet of the entertainment industry.

The United States is not alone, but it is a role model with great influence. Last week, right after the publication of Doctorow’s analysis, the European Parliament retroactively extended musical copyright by 20 years, just in time to freeze the passage of early Beatles music into the public domain. Currently, Canadian media lobbyists are claiming that Canadian copyright law is lax and therefore requires the passing of laws similar to the American DMCA.

Cory Doctorow’s analysis is correct. Big entertainment is clueless and their attempts to manipulate politics can easily backfire. The Internet community has advanced since 1996 to protect its interests; it’s more difficult now for the entertainment industry to get “anydamnfoolthing” passed. And yes, groups like the EFF can take “the tiniest amount of funding … leverage them with the Internet’s help, and beat the hell out of huge, powerful entertainment companies.” We should be proud. But we shouldn’t call victory yet: Big Media is fighting back. Media corporations are managing to get their laws passed despite consumer opposition. The amount of concern outside of the Internet community towards the secretive nature of the ACTA is relatively limited. President Obama, a man who started with copyright liberalism sympathies, has taken a stand towards copyright worse than his predecessor. Protecting the Internet won’t be easy; Big Media is determined to destroy it at whatever costs. We cannot afford to end our tireless efforts – we must remain vigilant.