Could the love affair between Senators and their iPods save fair use? Probably not alone, but this review of yesterday’s Senate hearing from the EFF’s deep links section suggests that some members of the Senate are becoming a bit more tech savvy.
Senator Sununu (R - New Hampshire), in what may be the first rational conservative argument I’ve heard in ages, said to the committee,
“The suggestion is that if we don’t do this, it will stifle creativity. Well…we have now an unprecedented wave of creativity and product and content development…new business models, and new methodologies for distributing this content. The history of government mandates is that it always restricts innovation…why would we think that this one special time, we’re going to impose a statutory government mandate on technology, and it will actually encourage innovation?”
Exactly Sen. Sununu. For the most part, regulation does not create innovation. And allowing this sort of wholesale law making tailored to the interests of old media will only ensure that in our global economy, everything cool gets produced somewhere else.
I don’t fear that innovation will stop, I don’t fear that content production will come to a grinding halt. What I fear most of all is that innovation will continue to thrive but, residents of the United States will be locked out of playing the game. Legislating our way into a corner and thus denying the independent creators and innovators in the United States a level playing field is not only unfair, it’s down right irresponsible.
Even more surprising from the EFF’s review of the hearing was this glimmer of understanding from Senator Stevens of Alaska (yes, _that_ Senator Stevens from Alaska) that the RIAA’s proposed “audio flag” might prevent him from using his own iPod in the manner he sees fit.
And when Stevens asked whether with the audio flag in place he would be able to record from the radio and put the shows onto his iPod: that’s when the RIAA’s Mitch Bainwol really began to sweat.
With that simple question, the octogenarian Senator encapsulated arguments about place-shifting, interoperability, and fair use that would have taken whole federal dockets to explain a few years ago.
This isn’t over, so write your Senator and tell them that John Sununu is right.
Update: Boing Boing has since posted about this as well.
Tags: 2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
I always hate when I post something, and then Boing Boing does too, and then everyone just thinks we’re biting Boing Boing. Except when it refers to our page that is!
And yeah, that Sununu is one probably my favorite republican.
Yah, I’m not so familiar with Sununu. I have to say that if he thinks like the above statement all the time, he may be headed for the same fate as John McCain and (to a lesser extent Bob Barr, although lots of us are still mad at him for the Clinton impeachment mess, he is atoning nicely by working for the ACLU).. People that make too much sense sometimes can’t get arrested in D.C.
And on boing boing.. sure, sometimes that’s frustrating but, we did get boing boinged in November when CC365 really needed the help getting the word out. So, much respect to BB.. I figure if you do or write something cool enough to actually make BB, it’ll make BB.. otherwise you should just keep working on it. The above article wasn’t in the slightest bit qualified.
Again, I’m mystified as to why Yamato Damacy isn’t a meme though. Personally, I love it.