MP3s

Copyright protection has gone too far in the digital domain. My ideal situation is one where all my digital media is available on my computer. I should be able to instantaneously access any piece of digital media that I "own". I have done what I can to rip all my CDs into music files on my computer. I have organized all my photos from my digital camera and even scanned several dozen hard copy photographs. But digital rights management has gone too far.

The business model for media companies needs to be revamped. We're now at the point where making a copy of a DVD on my computer can be considered illegal, regardless of what I plan to do with it, thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Therefore, putting videos I own on my computer, or making a backup of a DVD in case of future damage, is a legal risk. What we need is not more copy-protection techniques and technologies. What we need is a paradigm shift.

I agree with Orson Scott Card when he says that America will do the right thing if we embrace business practices that will support the artists while relaxing copy protection. Of all my music purchases in the last year, about 80% can be attributed to a preliminary screening where a friend gave me an MP3 file. I'm against circumventing copyright law, but I'm all for word-of-mouth advertising. And in some cases, that means sharing an MP3.