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From Chapter Six, Discussion of Intellectual Property Issues

1.) Hold a discussion either with your class or on the Net that considers the following issues:

Intellectual property conjures up a number of different associations. When we think of property, we think of something tangible--houses, diamonds and cars maybe. But, when we think of something intellectual, we don't necessarily think about ownership. Can someone own an idea?

It turns out that copyright law is not geared so much toward ideas (say a story about an underdog figure who makes it big); instead it applies toward the expression of those ideas (say a movie like Rocky). This distinction between ideas and their expression has guided the regulation of print and intellectual property for years. On the Internet, however, things are more gray. What about a thread of discussion in a newsgroup? The person who posts a message may have written the "original expression," but subsequent messages are likely to reproduce it in whole or in part. At what point do ideas become expressions or expressions turn back into ideas?

On the Web, there is a distinction taking shape between content and presentation or delivery. For instance, the archives of photographs held by the Library of Congress are a reservoir of content, but a site that reproduces some of them with descriptions and explanations that add value to the original content may then own the rights to the presentation. How does the distinction between content and delivery compare to that between ideas and expression? How is the idea of ownership complicated by this shift?

2.) Copyright law was instituted in response to the printing press. The ability to quickly and easily reproduce texts meant that works might be devalued as soon as they hit the street. If anyone could run off 10,000 copies of Robinson Crusoe, then the author and publisher stood little chance of making a living. A major function of copyright law, then, is to limit the reproduction of texts.

But what about a medium like the World Wide Web? Since Web browsers display pages by making a temporary copy of the original document, the operating principle of the Web is based upon the reproduction of texts. In many ways, this is a technological function, but it also indicates a philosophical position. After all, the Web and the Internet were created to freely share and distribute information. The recent entry of traditional publishers and corporate interests into the Web community has begun to change this sense of purpose towards a more commercial understanding of information brokerage. The Web can still be seen as the world's largest copying machine, but whether that capacity to distribute and reproduce information needs to be regulated is now the topic of much debate.

With the members of your class, or on the Net, hold your own discussion about distributing information on the Web.

Consider these prompts:

• What are some of the primary purposes of the Web and which do you see as the most important?

• What recommendations would you give to policy makers who are considering regulating the Web?

• What about the way files are duplicated on the Web? How does the technological make-up of the Web influence the discussion? Should it?

• How might the interests of those who would meter information in order to make a living be balanced with those who would distribute it freely?