[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       dmca-discuss
Subject:    [DMCA_discuss] Older Lessig paper: May the Source be with You
From:       "Jon O." <jono () networkcommand ! com>
Date:       2002-02-23 5:23:27
[Download RAW message or body]


http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/lessig.html

May the Source Be With You

The laws protecting software code are stifling creativity, 
destroying knowledge, and betraying the public trust. Legal 
heavy Lawrence Lessig argues it's time to bust the copyright 
monopoly.

In the early 1970s, RCA was experimenting with a new technology 
for distributing film on magnetic tape - what we would come to call
 video. Researchers were keen not only to find a means for reproducing 
celluloid with high fidelity but also to discover a way to control the 
use of the technology. Their aim was a method that could restrict the 
use of a film distributed on video, allowing the studio to maximize the 
film's return from distribution. 

The technology eventually chosen was relatively simple. A video would play 
once, and when finished, the cassette would lock into place. If a customer 
wanted to play the tape again, she would have to return it to the video 
store and have it unlocked. In this way, the outfit that owned the film 
would be guaranteed compensation for every use of the copyrighted material. 
RCA presented the technology to the Disney Company in early 1974. Pat Feely, 
a young researcher and technologist, demonstrated the device for five Disney 
executives. 

...

Adapted from The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/lessig.html
_______________________________________________


------------------------
http://www.anti-dmca.org
------------------------

DMCA_discuss mailing list
DMCA_discuss@lists.microshaft.org
http://lists.microshaft.org/mailman/listinfo/dmca_discuss
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]