Music Industry in Global Fight on Web Copies
The people responsible for KaZaA, the file-trading software network, are trying to stay one step ahead of the entertainment industry’s lawyers. Two of it’s principals are being sought in Europe, and no one will admit to having a copy of the source code. It’s an interesting twist in the bits vs atoms debate.
The Sharman case may well raise again the unsettled question of whether Internet companies should be forced to adhere to the laws of every country whose citizens have access to their Web sites.
Some copyright experts object to that notion, on pragmatic grounds and because they say it contradicts the Jeffersonian principle that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed. But the alternative, for a company to be bound only by the laws of the country where it is headquartered, could lead to a race to incorporate in countries whose laws are the most lax.
Well, of course: why are most corporations registered in Delaware? Why are most merchant ships registered in places like Liberia? It’s not like software developers are the first to want to minimize the friction of business laws.
On the other hand, do I think people should be able to give away copies of copyrighted works? No, I don’t. But at the same time, I would like to see the industries who claim injury here to innovate, instead of litigating (I hope Microsoft hasn’t copyrighted that phrase from the browser wars). Here’s a brand-new distribution channel that offers all kinds of possibilities to generate revenue and capture mindshare, but they don’t want to take advantage of it. They’re still thinking in atoms, not bits.