Last August I posted big rant about “Is DRM the Devil? The Debate over Digital Rights Management, Trusted Computing and Fair Use in Copyright Law.” In it, I mentioned a forthcoming Cato Institute study by Michael Einhorn and Bill Rosenblatt entitled, “Peer-to-Peer Networking and Digital Rights Management: How Market Tools Can Solve Copyright Problems.” Well, I’m happy to say that it’s finally out!
In this paper, Einhorn and Rosenblatt demonstrate that DRM and P2P can be quite complementary and that innovative market mechanisms that can help alleviate many copyright concerns are currently blossoming.
Einhorn and Rosenblatt argue that “Government should protect the copyrights of content owners but simultaneously allow the free market to determine potential synergies, responses, and outcomes that tap different P2P and DRM business models. In particular, market operations are greatly preferable to government technology controls,” they note.
Their paper outlines the many innovative business models and technological solutions already being deployed in the marketplace proving that, contrary to what many critics on both sides of this debate argue, a well-functioning marketplace is currently at work.
I encourage you to download and read this important new study:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3670
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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