I recently wrote about an excellent policy brief published by the Republican Study Committee that discussed copyright. Sadly, the RSC withdrew the brief within 24 hours after heavy complaints from lobbyists for big media. Now, Techdirt, which also covered the initial story, has taken on the task of continuing the debate that the Republicans (and, of course, the wholly-owned Democrats) are afraid to hold.
They are planning a series of posts that discuss the points raised in the original brief. Follow the above link for the first installment. This is a discussion that we desperately need to have. Big media is rampaging around in the china shop causing all sorts of damage: suing their customers, pushing for Internet destroying laws, and all manner of other actions familiar to us all.
When alleged copyright infringers face 45 years imprisonment and are arrested with the aid of assault rifles and helicopters, you don’t need to be a deep thinker to understand that things are out of control. It really is past time to start having a serious discussion about this. Perhaps Techdirt’s efforts will be the start of that discussion.