By
Debbie Weil
June 96, Number 2
What about regulating
the Internet? Aren’t
there dozens of cybersavvy
lawyers just salivating
at the prospect of
crafting a whole new
set of rules to define
intellectual property
issues for cyberspace?
There are at least
half a dozen areas
to keep these folks
busy: copyright, libel,
contract and trademark
law, along with free
speech and privacy
issues. And all impact
on the publishing
of content on the
Web.
Well, at least one
attorney, an associate
professor at Georgetown
University Law Center,
takes a contrarian
point of view. David
Post, co-founder and
co-director of the
Cyberspace Law Institute
, says that technology
- not the law - is
going to protect Web
content.
"Encryption-based
technology is going
to offer protection
for these technologically-based
creations," he says.
In other words, don’t
wait for new cyberlaws.
Look for "the barbed
wire on the range...
Someone is going to
invent the barbed
wire which will protect
content on the Web."
He points to the new
encryption-based software
technologies being
developed both to
protect commercial
transactions and to
encode content.
"The unique character
of the online medium
fundamentally changes
the copyright analysis,"
he says. "The act
of copying is the
heart and soul of
what copyright is
about and the act
of copying has a unique
place in this new
medium... I don’t
think copyright law
is going to be the
vehicle by which people
will obtain compensation
(on the Web) because
copying is too pervasive."
It’s a contract
and not a copyright
issue, he emphasizes.
You can’t negotiate
your "copyrights"
with the world (i.e.
with the millions
of readers who have
access to the words
or other content you
post to the Web),
but you can pin down
your rights in a contractual
agreement with your
publisher.
(Whether you’re
a content developer
or a writer, check
out the tips on electronic
rights prepared by
the American Society
of Journalists and
Authors.)
You can also "put
up a sign," Post says
- i.e. throw up your
own barbed wired -
by adding a disclaimer
to the bottom of your
Web page asking that
visitors not redistribute
your words without
your permission. Can
this be enforced?
Probably not, he admits.
Post, who teaches
constitutional and
copyright law and
whose credentials
including clerking
- twice - for Supreme
Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg, offers
the following advice
for writers hoping
to protect their ownership
and compensation rights:
"If you’re concerned
with unauthorized
distribution of your
material, don’t
put it on the Web."
Pretty uninspiring
words from a cybersavvy
lawyer who, with two
other law professors,
in February announced
a free online course
on Cyberspace Law
for Non-Lawyers. To
date, says Post, 18,000
people have signed
up. (It’s not
too late if you want
to join the list.
Go to the Cyberspace
Law Web site for more
information.)
He sighs, musing on
the potential for
making money as an
online law prof. If
he were to charge
for the course, "they
(would) want interaction
with the teacher.
And how can I do that
with 18,000 or even
2,000 students?"
The technology needs
to catch up with "the
(Net) culture that
is reluctant to charge
for content," Post
says. "This is not
an information marketplace
but a discussion center...
a commons."
He adds, "Everybody
should step back a
minute... Here we
have this medium that
enables you to communicate
to an unfathomably
large number of people.
If I want to make
money from this, the
first question I should
ask is not: How can
I stop this information
from being transmitted?"
"It’s how do
I take advantage of
the potential of this
new medium?"
CDA
FOLLOW-UP ON THE HILL
Content providers
and online publishers
take note: You’ve
got a friend on Capitol
Hill.
Despite the June 12th
federal court ruling
on the unconstitutionality
of the Communications
Decency Act, Rep.
Rick White still has
his hands full as
co-founder of the
Congressional Internet
Caucus - essentially
a consciousness-raising
group for Congressmen
& women unfamiliar
with cyberspace.
The Republican freshman
from Washington state
(hmm, isn’t that
the home of some big
company with a special
interest in the online
medium?) plans to
introduce new legislation
next year that will
protect children on
the Internet and address
the issue of indecent
content.
Rep. White is a staunch
defender of the Internet
as "a marketplace
of ideas," a phrase
he used in a Q. &
A. on the
Online NewsHour.
"I hope that as we
continue to educate
members of Congress
about the Internet,
they will come up
with the same conclusion
that I have and will
let the Internet flourish
from private sector
innovation," he said
in the NewsHour online
forum.
A great site for reading
up on the CDA ruling,
BTW, is the New York
Times CyberTimes’
CDA page.
WORD
BIZ BYTES
The cool thing about
writing a column is
that you get to make
it up as you go along.
I know I promised
I wouldn’t use
the cybercliche _bytes_
but, heck, where do
I put all the tidbits
I run across that
I want to tell you
about?
Here’s one: Don’t
miss the article on
Wired Women in the
July 1st issue of
U.S. News & World
Report. You can also
find the story on
U.S. News Online.
The gist of the article
is that women are
a lot more web-savvy
than the media has
given them credit
for. From the first
graph: "Women see
the Internet as a
tool and usually go
online with a goal
in mind, like homing
in on the latest Alzheimer’s
research."
This contrasts with
the notion (where
did this come from?)
that women go online
to _shop_. (Give me
a break. Isn’t
the fun of wandering
through a mall the
tactile, sensory experience
of fabrics and colors?)
Or the idea that women
would be so intimidated
by the technology
that they wouldn’t
plug in at all. The
article quotes the
latest survey by the
Georgia Institute
of Technology "showing
that 32 percent of
Web users are women,
double just a year
ago."
E-FEEDBACK
I’m getting some,
most of it positive.
A typical comment:
"Look forward to reading
your cystuff." Only
one response from
a female reader and
she writes: "Thank
you for stepping forward
to cover the ’women
on the net’ thing."
She also points out
that I omitted instructions
on how to pronounce
my last name. Weil
is "while" (if you
care).
SEND
ME TIPS, FLAMES, WHATEVER
I’m taking a
Statistics course
this summer so I know
that only a tiny percentage
of you will actually
take the time to respond
to my plea for feedback.
The rest of you are
sitting in front of
your screens thinking
_stuff_ like, "Boy,
is she a jerk," or
"Hey, that’s
actually kind of interesting.
I could use that information."
So tell me what’s
on your mind. Click
here on debbie
weil and fire
away. Don’t edit
your thoughts. Don’t
worry about grammar
or being perfectly
articulate. This is
e-mail, remember?
And I’ll never
reveal the identity
of a tipster, unless
he/she specifically
asks me to.
Seeya
