Copyright, jobs and poverty: Time for John Edwards to grasp the economic and moral issues
“Last year’s Democratic vice presidential nominee pulled into Iowa–whose caucuses gave Edwards his biggest victory–Tuesday to talk about poverty and moral values.” - Washington Post update on John Edwards.
The TeleRead take: As an ex-poverty reporter–yes, that was an actual news beat, eons ago–I love what John Edwards is saying. But so far Prof. Edwards has been resolutely silent on the DMCA, copyright term extension and other threats to jobs and education. Why, Professor? Ideally the outspoken Paul Jones, whose ibiblio archive at UNC houses Project Gutenberg, can blog on this topic and encourage a cumulative process to educate Prof. Edwards. It’s time for people in Chapel Hill and elsewhere to connect the dots. As documented in J.D. Lasica’s new book and by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Hollywood-bought laws can discourage and even kill job-creating innovations, which, as I see it, benefit not only techies but also blue-collar folks whose services they use. What’s more, such laws raise the price of education and will make us a less literate nation. As head of UNC’s new poverty center, doesn’t John Edwards care–not just about the harm to ordinary Americans but also to people in poverty-stricken Third World Countries (to whom the combination of DRM and DMCA-inspired laws can be most toxic)? I hope so. Let’s hear him say it and show that the Entertainment-Copyright Complex has not purchased his silence.
Hollywood canards: The E-CC would have you think that Draconian copyright laws protect jobs–because industries such as software are so important these days. But who says copyright zealotry pays off? The DRM/DMCA combination has been murder on the e-book industry. Yes, software needs some protection, but let’s not overdo it. The copyright laws are actually written less for high-tech interests than for Hollywood. And yet, as documented in the First Monday essay Content is Not King, by Andrew Odlyzko, other segments of the economy dwarf the movie and TV industries and other content providers. Telecom far exceeds Tinsel Town in revenues, for example; and education, a victim of the present copyright laws, is even more important.
The Gutenberg angle: One of the glories of the public domain is that it opens up many more possibilities for grassroots, Gutenberg-style groups, which needn’t pay for content and for legal help (voluntary). Yes, I’m in favor of copyright protection and could at least tolerate the pre-Bono Act terms–it’s just a matter of balance. Bono tipped the scales too far. Even more disturbingly, it’s part of former MPAA CEO Jack Valenti’s efforts to make copyright last forever short of a day.
The grand strategy: Of all the very top Democratic prospects for ‘08, Prof. Edwards is probably among the most persuasible, especially now that he is doing his poverty routine. That is why I keep returning to him over and over again, beyond the fact that UNC is my old school. Even before the coming of Prof. Edwards–or the return, since he’s a law grad–Carolina had the Howard W. Odum Institute to research poverty and other issues in the American South. It still does. Also, keep in mind that if Prof. Edwards decides not to run in ‘08, he’ll apparently remain in Chapel Hill, where he is building a house. Some say he’ll resist peer pressure there. I’m not so certain. So people in the Chapel Hill and UNC communities should speak up. If nothing else, the copyright issue is a good litmus test of Prof. Edwards’ character–his ability if elected to holdup against special interests such as Hollywood types.
Meanwhile I invite other readers to focus not just on Prof. Edwards but on other politicians of both parties. But I see the most promising path this way, in the quest to educate national politicians: Edwards/Warner -> Kerry -> Hillary Clinton. Hollywood money counts, but votes count even more. Don’t just offer pols sticks. Also offer them carrots if the spirit moves you and if you can genuinely say you’ll work toward their ‘08 chances.
About the photo: It’s from a BBC news report, and while apparently shot in the U.K., the scene could also be an American one. Beyond that, keep in mind that no matter what the country, Hollywoodish laws (often imposed through U.S. trade agreements) will harm Poverty Fighter Number One–education.
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