Cory Doctorow on Copyright Wars

Cory Doctorow steps up to the podium at today's Singularity Summit at Stanford. His focus: Singularity or Dark Age? How the copyright wars threaten technological progress.

(Yes, the one with the colorful laptop on the stage next to the suit).

We are creatures of habit; we tend to publish rather than hoard knowledge.

I love the way Cory thinks and -- as always, he adds humor to his talk. He's talking about digital rights management, something close to my heart and many of the people in this room.

With what's happening now with copyright restrictions and constraints, is that technology controls us rather than serves us. Says Cory, "Publishing is security, its the mechanism by which we make security better."

What makes things progress worldwide is user innovation and adoption and yet, we're continuing to see laws crop up around the world that restricts this. All complex systems have parasites, he says.

"There's no guarantee that demand will remain," he continues. He compares CDs and DVDs.....note that the older technology - CDs don't have digital rights management, and DVDs do. You can only make a better DVD maker, by fighting with the people who don't want that control taken away from them.

He raises the iPod issue. I spent hours, no days, maybe weeks, getting my playlists organized and yet I'm not allowed to copy MY collection onto another iPod I own (a smaller one for travel for example) or another computer. Make it difficult for me, make me hate your systems, make me hate your company, make me hate your technology.

"The future, is where agency is possible," says Cory. It's a world where inventors can invent and no one is worried about technological barriers. Abundance is celebrated, not mourned.

Tag: Singularity Summit
Tag: Singularity
Tag: copyright laws
Tag: Cory Doctorow