Are U.S. Educators On The Wrong Side Of The Copyright War?
from the sharing-information-is-a-good-thing... dept
Last month, the entertainment industry (with the help of Senator Harry Reid) slipped a nice little amendment into the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, which funds colleges and universities as well as students. The amendment would require universities block p2p file sharing or lose funding. A number of universities complained (reasonably) about the expense involved in doing so, but some are arguing that it's about time that universities got away from just the cost argument and stood against this on principle. John points us to an argument for why universities should be fighting back against copyright maximalism, noting that, of all places, universities should recognize the benefits of a freer flow of information, and how trying to artificially limit information only leads to problems. The author notes that the high price of college textbooks should be example number one of how copyright can hinder the educational purpose of a university by artificially driving up the price. Of course, these days it seems like too many of the myths from the entertainment industry have been accepted as fact -- so it seems unlikely that universities will stand up against dangerous copyright practices any time soon.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: congress, copyright, p2p, piracy, politics, universities
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freer flow of information?
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Re: freer flow of information?
I go to UW now and I must agree. Universities are already part of the information problem and it will take more than a change of argument about copyrights to set them right.
When I research articles in the library, I do it under the condition that I cannot share those articles or the information in them with people outside of the university. There is probably some logical reason I am missing, but it really seems that the ivory towers are bent on keeping information within them and not sharing it with anyone else.
IMHO our whole soceity has deteriorated with selfishness, greed, and a form of capitalism that only a cruel society would pratice. There is no regard to the little people that make it work. It is a very strong class based society that makes me question what our supposed democracy is really cracked up to.
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Re: Re: freer flow of information?
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ODD ......
Do they not see that in the end the RIAA, MPAA, and every other copyright zealot wants to force everything to be locked down. While I do think distributing (and downloading) music on a p2p network is theft, I do see fair use as something we must have (I should be able to legally play music my CD (the one I own) on my ipod. I should be able to play music I by on Itunes on Any play I so choose).
Well we shall see.
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Re: ODD ......
But universities are very conservative institutions, and professors are in the game of trying to secure captive audiences for their textbooks, so I don't think those incidents caused a great stir. Just a reminder of what the rules were, and that they would be enforced.
I think the record industry's insistence on rigorous copyright enforcement probably resonates at universities. Though they might not appreciate this particular law requiring them to proactively scour their networks for violators, which seems intrusive.
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Dingy Harry
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Whaaat? o_O
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Odd, indeed.
I was under the impression that "educational purposes" was one of those get-out-of-copyright-free cards...
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Interesting twist
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Re: Interesting twist
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Fair Use
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College Copying
I used to work in a copy shop (back in the day) that served several universities and we were always instructed to determine the amount of a work being copied and require authorizations when necessary. Many of the Professors did indeed have such and always seemed pleased to show them. often complimenting us for having asked. I often suspected that they considered it as 'sauce for the goose' since they also have to publish continually in order to hold their positions and they like the idea that their own creative work will be likewise protected and attributed.
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