Doctorow:
House Republicans release watershed copyright reform paper; Techdirt:
House Republicans: Copyright Law Destroys Markets; It's Time For Real ReformI've only skimmed the document so far, but WOW.
This document really is a watershed moment. Even if it does not lead to any actual legislation, just the fact that some in Congress are discussing how copyright has gone way too far and even looking at suggestions that focus on what benefits the public the most is a huge step forward from what we've come to expect. In many ways, this is the next logical step after the completion of the SOPA fight. Rather than just fighting bad policy, it's time for Congress to recognize that existing copyright law is bad policy and now is the time to fix it. It comes as a surprise, but kudos to the Republican Study Committee -- and specifically Derek Khanna, the policy staffer who wrote the document -- for stepping up and saying what needed to be said, but which too many in Congress had been afraid to say for fear of how the entertainment industry lobbyists would react.
What we seem to have here is Republicans actually pointing out good conservative reasons to oppose the current copyright regime: it's a big-government handout to Hollywood that grants artificial monopolies, interferes with the free market, stifles innovation, and is clearly not what the Founding Fathers intended when they wrote the Constitution.
Now, this could just be another fringe issue that gets swept under the rug -- I certainly don't think the leadership of either party wants to talk about this.
But if this group of Republicans manages to keep pushing this issue and getting people to talk about it, I think that's going to be a major step.
This could end up like SOPA/PIPA -- if you get a strong enough grassroots message out, it doesn't matter what Congressional leadership and Big Media say, it becomes self-evident to a vast majority of voters everywhere that this is in their interest.
Good luck to the Republican Study Committee, and anybody else who joins the fight, regardless of party.