Information Technology Law

The Fight over Digital Rights The Politics of Copyright and Technology

By Bill D. Herman
Cambridge University Press April 2013

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781107015975
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication
April 2013
Format
Hardback , 258 pages
Jurisdiction
International ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

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

Table of Contents

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

About the Author

Bill D. Herman
Hunter College, City University of New York

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