Criminalize acts, not means
Fast forward.
Today I read that the U.S. Justice Department seems to be modeling a war on file sharing after the war on drugs, and has released a set of recommendations re. copyright bills that would criminalize passive file sharing on peer-to-peer networks.
What these lobbyist-trough-lickers don't or won't get is that P-to-P file sharing is a technology. It may be used either for both legal and illegal acts. While VCRs and videocassettes were sometimes used for illegal piracy, they remain legal because recording for private home purposes is legal. While guns are sometimes (even frequently) used for illegal acts, they remain legal because they are also used for legal acts. The vast majority of people break the law in cars every day, yet they too remain legal.
P-to-P file sharing is used for any number of legal purposes as well, including legal distribution of copyrighted software or media by the owners or licensees of the copyright involved.
But as Lessig says in another context, Ashcroft doesn't get it.
A lot of different discussions on copyright/filesharing/fair use are raging
right now. To be honest: most of the traffic on P2P network is copyrighted
material. We'll skip the copyright issue, that's another discussion
altogether.
By banning the easiest way to share files there will be a massive move to other ways of 'sharing'. We've seen it happening with Napster. A lot of people want to 'share' files, and are willing to put in some effort to do so. Closing one road to their destination will only encourage them to find other ways.
The war on drugs has not been won, has it? The war on filesharing will probably end the same way.
Jeroen
Yes, a lot of copyrighted material is illegally shared over P-to-P
networks. If it gets harder, the folks doing this sharing will go further
underground. Read: "Speakeasy"s during Prohibition. A criminal class is
created. The folks who suffer are the innocent bystanders and the
legitimate users, not the illegitimate users.
Thanks for your comment.