[A2k] Ed Felten proposes a three-strikes law for print

[Pranesh Prakash]

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Often farcical extrapolation is the best way to put a point across.

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/modest-proposal-three-strikes-print

A Modest Proposal: Three-Strikes for Print
By Ed Felten - Posted on May 13th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Yesterday the French parliament adopted a proposal to create a
"three-strikes" system that would kick people off the Internet if they
are accused of copyright infringement three times.

This is such a good idea that it should be applied to other media as
well. Here is my modest proposal to extend three-strikes to the medium
of print, that is, to words on paper.

My proposed system is simplicity itself. The government sets up a
registry of accused infringers. Anybody can send a complaint to the
registry, asserting that someone is infringing their copyright in the
print medium. If the government registry receives three complaints about
a person, that person is banned for a year from using print.

As in the Internet case, the ban applies to both reading and writing,
and to all uses of print, including informal ones. In short, a banned
person may not write or read anything for a year.

A few naysayers may argue that print bans might be hard to enforce, and
that banning communication based on mere accusations of wrongdoing
raises some minor issues of due process and free speech. But if those
issues don't trouble us in the Internet setting, why should they trouble
us here?

Yes, if banned from using print, some students will be unable to do
their school work, some adults will face minor inconvenience in their
daily lives, and a few troublemakers will not be allowed to participate
in -- or even listen to -- political debate. Maybe they'll think more
carefully the next time, before allowing themselves to be accused of
copyright infringement.

In short, a three-strikes system is just as good an idea for print as it
is for the Internet. Which country will be the first to adopt it?

Once we have adopted three-strikes for print, we can move on to other
media. Next on the list: three-strikes systems for sound waves, and
light waves. These media are too important to leave unprotected.


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Pranesh Prakash
Programme Manager
Centre for Internet and Society
W: http://cis-india.org | T: +91 80 40926283
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