
Top VCs Say Boo To Proposed Internet Regulation - jaybol
http://www.wiredvc.com/top-vcs-say-boo-to683-proposed-internet-regulation/
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delinka
I propose we stifle this kind of legislation once and for all. I have two
ideas.

1) Criminal penalties for violating the inalienable rights of other humans:
acceptable. Criminal penalties for infringing on legislated rights (i.e.
patent, trademark and copyright)? Unacceptable; may incur civil penalties, but
only if the rights holder raises the objection. Such a system requires
thought, discussion and planning because the Little Guy needs to be able to
afford suing for damages.

2) Compulsory licensing for _everything._ As it stands, if you compose a song
and publish the lyrics and music, no one may record the song without your
permission. Once it's been recorded and made publicly available, the rights
holder is compelled to license the song for other to record. The law provides
for the royalties to be collected on your behalf and paid to you. Do the same
for broadcast rights and distribution rights.

The one thing that simply cannot happen is trying to turn every administrator
of a data pipe into copyright cop. There's no way for them to know who owns
rights to what and what's been licensed to whom and for what purposes.

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Joakal
1) They do this already for compensation/punitive damages for infringing on
Free Speech, assault, etc. You would need to prove it though.

2) Royalties are collected by private organisations like RIAA. You would need
to prove that you own the royalties. How would you collect licence fees for
copying IP say from music CD to USB?

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delinka
Your 2) is fair use. Copying from CD that I own to a thumb drive that I own is
fair use and does not entitle the original rights holder to additional
royalties.

I'm also a firm believer in protections against _commercial_ infringement.
When I share a song with a friend, that's not an infringement that a court
would particularly care about (and probably nor should the rights holder.)
However, distributing many hundreds of copies on thumb drives should
necessitate the compulsory fee. Still, you have to prove it in court...

