The Fight over Digital Rights The Politics of Copyright and Technology

Author: Bill D. Herman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781107015975
Published In: April 2013
Format: Hardback , 258 pages
Jurisdiction: International ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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In the political fight over copyright, Internet advocacy has reshaped the playing field. This was shown in the 2012 'SOPA blackout', when the largest online protest in history stopped two copyright bills in their tracks. This protest was the culmination of an intellectual and political evolution more than a decade in the making. This book examines the debate over digital copyright, from the late 1980s through early 2012, and the new tools of political communication involved in the advocacy around the issue. Drawing on methods from legal studies, political science and communications, it explores the rise of a coalition seeking more limited copyright, as well as how these early-adopting, technology-savvy policy advocates used online communication to shock the world. It compares key bills, congressional debates, and offline and online media coverage using quantitative and qualitative methods to create a rigorous study for researchers that is also accessible to a general audience.

• This is the first scholarly book discussing the 2012 SOPA blackout and the political history that led up to it

• Presents a unique combination of methods providing a new way to think about and study political communication in the digital era

• The most detailed political history of digital copyright in over a decade

List of Figures	xi
List of Tables	xii
Preface	xiii
List of Abbreviations	xx
1 Lightning in a Bottle	1
The Copyright Debate: An Overview and a Narrower Focus	5
Policy Advocacy, Media Strategy, and New Media	11
New Tools for Studying New Phenomena	16
How This Book Is Organized – and Supplemented	25
Part I: A Political History of Digital Copyright Through 2006	27
2 The Audio Home Recording Act, 1987–1992	29
Digital Audio Tape and Serial Copying	30
Legal Threats and a Legislative Compromise	31
The Audio Home Recording Act's Effects and Political Significance	33
3 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act	37
Preparing for the Looming Internet Age	38
Crafting the Anticircumvention Provisions	43
A Deal to Limit Service Provider Exposure	47
Digital Millennium Copyright Act as Political Milestone	53
4 A Digital Rights Management Interlude: 1999–2002	58
The Peer-to-Peer Explosion	58
Senator Hollings’ Proposal	60
Nongovernmental Organizations Take a Central Role	64
Scholars Step into the Spotlight	67
Conclusion	68
5 Digital Millennium Copyright Act Reform and the Broadcast Flag	70
Proposals to Reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act	70
The Broadcast Flag	74
Conclusion	81
Part II: Political Communication in Key Digital Rights Management Debates, 1989–2006	83
6 Communicating in Congress	85
Decades of Calls for Stronger Copyright	87
Shifting Toward Fair Use	89
Allies in Congress	92
Representation in Congress	95
Conclusion	102
7 Communicating in Print	104
Low Volume of Newspaper Coverage	105
A Mostly Balanced Copyright Viewpoint	109
Sector Representation in Newspaper Coverage	110
A Varied Role for Industry Press	114
Conclusion	117
8 The Copyright and Digital Rights Management Debate Online	120
The Community of Websites Debating Copyright	121
Finding and Analyzing Relevant Online Documents	130
Blogging for Fair Use: More Sites, More to Say	133
A Brief Update	136
Conclusion: A Web of Strong Fair Use Messages	145
9 Comparing the Online and Offline Digital Rights Management Debates	150
Comparing Copyright Viewpoint	150
Comparing Sector Representation	154
Conclusion	157
Part III: The Present and Future of Digital Copyright and Digital Advocacy	159
10 The Digital Rights Management Debate Withers, 2007–2010	161
Digital Rights Management Falls Short	161
Boucher's Efforts End	170
Exporting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's Mistakes	172
An End to the Domestic Stalemate?	179
11 New Strategies and a Historic Uprising	180
Making a (Black)List of Online Infringers	181
Combatting Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act	185
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Starts Seizing Domains	186
The Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT-IP Act	194
OPEN to an Alternative?	200
Conclusion: What the SOPA Response Says About Copyright Politics	203
12 The Future of Digital Rights – and Digital Fights	206
The Birth and Strength of the Strong Fair Use Movement	206
An Important Role for Internet Advocacy	213
Studying the Future	215
Bibliography	221
Index	229