A Question of Intent
Category: Copyright Law
Via Tess, my goddessly assistant: "Grokster," she informs me, "is everywhere." Indeed it is.
The Supreme Court had a field day with the issue of intent - also ruling on posting the 10 Commandments in the same fashion. If the intent of technology is to violate copyright, it's illegal; if the intent of posting the 10 Commandments is to advocate a particular religion over others, it's illegal. They're drawing parallels where there shouldn't be parallels.
As they say, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Is Scalia now The Shadow? Who can judge what "intent" actually is? Because even my seven-year-old is smart enough to lie when asked, "Did you really mean that?" In fact, she's smart enough to lie to HERSELF. Intent is a murky issue. There are those who've congratulated the Court for bypassing the issue of technology for the "real" issue - but the fact is, once again, the Court has failed to understand how technology works, and what security needs to be in place to prevent copyright violations, and has focused instead on the vagaries of human behavior.
Spankings all around to the Court once more for not getting it.
The Supreme Court had a field day with the issue of intent - also ruling on posting the 10 Commandments in the same fashion. If the intent of technology is to violate copyright, it's illegal; if the intent of posting the 10 Commandments is to advocate a particular religion over others, it's illegal. They're drawing parallels where there shouldn't be parallels.
As they say, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Is Scalia now The Shadow? Who can judge what "intent" actually is? Because even my seven-year-old is smart enough to lie when asked, "Did you really mean that?" In fact, she's smart enough to lie to HERSELF. Intent is a murky issue. There are those who've congratulated the Court for bypassing the issue of technology for the "real" issue - but the fact is, once again, the Court has failed to understand how technology works, and what security needs to be in place to prevent copyright violations, and has focused instead on the vagaries of human behavior.
Spankings all around to the Court once more for not getting it.
What I offer:
