Is "Free Culture" Under Siege?

Dan Kusnetzky, VP Systems at IDC, found my piece on Free Culture "an interesting analysis", which is high praise. But Dan also took issue with Dr. Lessig's premise that copyright and fair use is under siege.

Dan wondered whether we were seeing the impact on copyright and fair use as less "a concerted, planned effort...underway to control culture" and more a "side effect of a piecemeal effort to control 'intellectual property' for commercial purposes".

A fair question. Book authors and litigators sometimes overstate their case to make a point to a jaded audience. I think that what's happening right now is more akin to collateral damage by the short-sighted "I want it my way" activities of business, while Larry's looking at the long-term impact. So Dan is rightly pointing out the short-term impact might be overstated.

But it doesn't follow that damage must be planned to be significant. Ignorance and lack of care can also do real damage, just as running your car without oil will eventually cause it to freeze up. A little care and knowledge can go a long way to mitigate problems before they balloon.

What does a businessmen care if he strips the forest, so long as he gets his piece of the action, right? It's all about pleasing shareholders these days. If they even can be pleased.