Debate Topic:

What on the Internet should be copyrighted and what freely available?

Many people used Napster to download thousands of songs. Now people are downloading software that allows them to crack the code that prevents DVD copying. Others download computer programs along with serial numbers for free. In reaction, the recording industry has struck back and wants to prevent you from loading your own CDs onto your computer and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act seeks to impose high fees for playing music on even non-profit Internet radio stations like WYBF’s webcasting. Where should the line be drawn between copyright and fair use?

A good, basic set of questions and answers about what copyright is can be

found here:

http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/index.html?wipo_content_frame=/about-ip/en/c

opyright.html

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act: http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf

-Excellent background on latest developments on laws affecting digital copying: http://www.justicetalking.org/getshow.asp?showid=217

-This group advocates for a broad interpretation of fair use: http://www.eff.org/ & http://www.eff.org/cafe/threesom2.html

-The Motion Picture Association has been a strong advocate for the benefit a strict copyright interpretation: http://www.mpaa.org/home.htm

-Librarians have been especially active in trying to strike a balance: http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/fairuse.html

Should all napster-like programs, epsecially the newer peer-to-peer ones like Kazaa and Limewire, etc., be made illegal to possess, because 95 percent of they time they are used to download copyrighted music, even though they can sometimes be used legally.