Resources Overview

During Week 7, you will read articles and view videos. The Weekly Schedule (a navigation link under Week 7) outlines the resources you will need to participate in the Discussion, complete the Application Assignment, and finish the Group Project.

This week, you will read articles from the Web and watch videos to understand how recent changes in the copyright law are affecting completion, fair use, and free speech.

Below you will find this week's individual resources available in this online classroom. You can play/view and download the individual course media assets where available.

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week's assigned Learning Resources. To access select media resources, please use the media player below.

Video

Introduction to the Week This video provides an introduction to the week's resources and assignments.

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Reading

Samuelson, P. (1999). Intellectual property and the digital economy: Why the anti-circumvention regulations need to be revised. Retrieved from http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~pam/papers/Samuelson.pdf

This article suggests that the DMCA goes beyond the requirements of the WIPO treaties and as such puts fair use and free speech in danger. At the same time, even though the DMCA was meant to ensure e-commerce, it may well be an impediment to competition in certain IT sectors such as consumer electronics.

Reading

Samuelson, P. (2003). Mapping the digital public domain: Threats and opportunities. Law and Contemporary Problems, 66(1/2), 147-171. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1277&context=lcp

This article discusses the impact of three legislative initiatives on the public domain. It notes that the UCITA, the CIAA, and the DMCA will decrease the breadth of publicly available works, undermining the constitutional intent of IP law and copyright.

Reading

Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2008). Unintended consequences: Ten years under the DMCA. Retrieved from http://www.eff.org/wp/unintended-consequences-ten-years-under-dmca

This article, a white paper by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), summarizes the key legal cases under the new copyright statute and the DMCA over the last 10 years. It notes that innovation is "chilled" by the DMCA, that fair use is curtailed, and that scientific research in encryption may be negatively affected.

Video

On Free, and the Differences Between Culture and Code

This video presents information on IP and freedom in a modern view. The video discusses the effects of code on culture and the suppression of creativity by excessive laws. The question-and-answer session is particularly insightful, bringing to light the differences between the United States and Europe.

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Video

Digital Rights Management

This video provides information on IP issues and the changes in copyright in the digital environment. The presentation shows an expert talking about the issues that confront media consumers, given the changes in ICTs that have challenged IP laws.

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Application

The DMCA and Digital Technology

This Application will help you understand the role of DMCA and digital technology.

1. View the video "On Free, and the Differences Between Culture and Code" by Lawrence Lessig in this week's Resources.
2. Based on the video, answer the following questions:
   1. What is the ideological commitment of Lawrence Lessig and the Creative Commons (CC) licenses as opposed to the values represented in the DMCA?
   2. What is the threat to culture by a "read-only world," and how do the CC licenses provided by Lessig address this threat?
   3. Would this debate have been possible without digital technology? Why or why not?