“The debate about what to do about intellectual-property rights in the digital age usually revolves around two starkly different views about how the world should work.
One side, led mostly by big entertainment companies, say copyrights must be protected at virtually all costs, even if that means legislating mandatory changes to technology that make it impossible to copy songs or videos without prior authorization from the copyright owner. This side contends that without such protections, there will be no incentive to produce or distribute new music or expensive movie and TV productions. Copy everything freely, they say, and soon there won’t be anything new worth copying. South Carolina Sen. Fritz Hollings is the champion of this crowd. His proposed Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, if enacted, would require that any new hardware or software sold in the U.S. contain anti-copying technology approved by the federal government.
On the other side are techies and consumer groups, many of whom vigorously oppose such proposals. They don’t want anyone interfering with their ability to use their computers, and other devices such as TiVO and ReplayTV digital video recorders, any way they please. This group says that if Congress becomes the arbiter of what the electronics industry can produce, technological progress will be significantly curtailed. As a result, leadership in tech markets will gradually shift away from the United States toward locales that impose fewer restrictions. The digital genie simply can’t be stuffed back into the bottle, they say.
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