Ever heard of the Trans-Pacific Partnership? Okay, if you’re an internet issues follower, then yes, you’ve heard of these international trade negotiations still underway. If you’re one of the other 180 or so million adult Americans, you probably haven’t. And that works out to be very convenient for the self-proclaimed protectors of Internet freedom, if you’re inclined to believe the ...
Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing meant to lay some of the groundwork for overhauling copyright law in the United States. The title of the hearing is “A Case Study in Consensus Building: The Copyright Principles Project,” suggesting that the “project” is about establishing premises and ground rules for how the debate might be framed going forward. I ...
We hear a lot about community and free expression when it comes to the Web. From tech bloggers to legal scholars, the boosters spare little praise for the social benefits of technologically connected groups. Some cyber gurus even go so far as to predict that these new communities are already spawning a new, populist dialogue that will ultimately change the ...
“To keep up even a worthwhile tradition means vitiating the idea behind it which must necessarily be in a constant state of evolution: it is mad to try to express new feelings in a “mummified” form.” – Alfred Jarry – Legal expert and blogger Terry Hart and I had the chance to meet in DC this week, and we were ...
It isn’t just perception. Partisan politics in the U.S. really is worse than ever, if we’re to take the word of those who’ve been on the inside for the last 40 or so years. I was listening to an audio version of Tom Brokaw’s book The Time of Our Lives recently, and hearing him describe today’s dysfunctional intransigence in Washington, ...
