Rep. Darrell Issa Worried That Strict Copyright Laws Are Stifling Competition And Innovation
from the finally... dept
The list of Congressional Representatives who seem to actually understand copyright issues is a pretty short one (which can be counted with the fingers of one hand), so it's always nice to see at least hints of another one beginning to wake up to the problems of today's copyright laws. While much of the recent House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy focused on a frightfully silly attack on Google, not all of the discussion was apparently about Google. At one point, it appears that Rep. Darrell Issa asked the panelists if "strict intellectual property laws could be stifling competition and innovation." Thankfully, Ed Black from CCIA was one of the panelists, and was quick to point out that this was absolutely true, even pointing out how copyright, at times, appears to "interfere with free speech." I have no idea if this actually means much in the grand scheme of things, but it's so rare to see an elected official even admit that there might possibly be some downsides to copyright law, that it seemed worth highlighting.Filed Under: competition, copyright, darrell issa, innovation
