ADELPHI, MD. — I had the privilege today of speaking before the University of Maryland University College Center for Intellectual Property Symposium, the second time I have done so. This time my job was to appear on a panel reacting to a presentation by Georgia Harper of the University of Texas at Austin. Her points, basically were such: 1) Copyright is outdated and wrongheaded in the digital world. 2) If copyright law doesn't step out of the way, we will sidestep the law (her words).

If you haven't stopped by Washington, DC's Artomatic, I encourage you to check it out before it closes on June 15^th. During this month long, multi-media event, the Copyright Alliance joins over 1,000 local artists and organizations in promoting the endless artistic talent of the metro area.

Completely run by volunteers, the visionaries of Artomatic seek to intentionally break down social and cultural barriers by offering this free event in a different location each year. This year held in a large nearly completed warehouse-like space in Northeast DC, nine floors of innovative ideas, executions, performances, and readings wow artists and visitors alike.

I seem to spend half my time pointing out that just because creative works can be turned into bits and shared, that doesn't mean the creators' rights over their works should be taken away. I seem to spend the other half of my time pointing out that new business models have to come from the creators and owners of property, rather than being imposed on them through theft.

We all know that recorded music and motion pictures, from major chart-toppers and blockbusters to indie recordings and art house films, hit P2P and torrent services quickly after release, and sometimes prior to release. All lead to billions in losses, harming the hundreds of people employed on each targeted recording or movie. Prerelease piracy is particularly harmful in this age of fast bandwidth and home theaters, denying artists even the window of the initial release period. That's why Congress a few years back clarified that prerelease was a serious criminal offense.

In my last post, I discussed this notion that anything online should be free. Radiohead received much praise for releasing In Rainbows for a limited time online free while asking for voluntary payments (although there has been some dispute over how much they earned and they've said they won't do that publicity stunt with their next album).

Who doesn't like free? Everyone does. And we know that for years now, we've
grown accustomed to everything online being free (whether it was intended to be
free is another matter).

Liz Peek in the New York Sun admits
she likes things online to be free as well. But Ms. Peek is one of the few
people considering what the implications are of that expectation:

The country's competitive edge is firmly established in its creativity,
technology, and knowledge-based endeavors. What if no one were willing to pay
for these things?

In the ongoing debate about network neutrality, I've limited
my comments to emphasizing the fact that there should be no legislative or
regulatory protection for infringing works. There has been bipartisan agreement
on this point, from FCC
Chairman Kevin Martin to Rep. Ed
Markey (D-Mass.), sponsor of a major net neutrality bill.

Yet again, we see an online "business model" that involves taking someone
else's creative work, and only talking about licensing when sued (after
suggesting the real problem is not their illegal behavior but rather a flawed
system).

Jonathan Make of Communications Daily and Washington Internet Daily
(subscription required) has an interesting dispatch from the NCTA convention in
New Orleans, the annual conference of the cable industry. Back in the "olden
days" of cable, you could see Ted Turner wandering the halls and cornering
executives of local cable franchises, urging them to carry some crazy scheme
like a 24-hour news network. There aren't as many deals made at the show
nowadays, but it still draws interesting speakers, including folks from Congress
and the Administration.

Earlier today the International Anti-Piracy Caucus led by Sens. Biden
(D-Del.) and Smith (R-Ore.) and Reps. Schiff (D-Cal.) and Goodlatte (R-Va.)
released the 2008
International Piracy Watch List. The actual list is here, 
Goodlatte and Schiff both focused on the troubles with copyright enforcement in
Russia and China, which were also recently singled out by the U.S.