[DMCA-Activists] ED FOSTER: Un-Public Domain

[Seth Johnson]

(Infoworld's Gripe Line)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: ED FOSTER: "The Gripe Line" from InfoWorld.com, April 1, 2003
Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 12:30:00 -0600
From: address@hidden

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ED FOSTER:            "Gripe Line"            InfoWorld.com
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Tuesday, April 1, 2003

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UN-PUBLIC DOMAIN

By Ed Foster

Posted March 28, 2003 3:00 PM Pacific Time

It was a very strange experience. I'll admit that it had been awhile since
I'd visited my local library, so I was totally unprepared -- even after our
recent discussion about books vs. software -- for how much it had changed.

The first change would have been hard to miss: I found the entryway to the
stacks blocked by a turnstile. When I tried to push through it, an LED panel
flashed "Insert Library Card" next to a small slot at the side. My tattered,
old library card didn't look as if it would fit, and indeed, it was rejected
when I tried to insert it. "Access to Reading Room Denied -- See New
Accounts Desk," the LED flashed.

Looking around, I saw signs leading me to a door I'd never seen before
marked "New Accounts." Inside, a well-dressed young lady greeted me so
warmly that at first I thought she must be somebody I knew.

"What can we do for you today?" she asked, and I produced my old card. With
professional restraint, she suppressed a smirk over this relic and proceeded
to reveal the wonderful benefits my new library account would provide.
Although I didn't understand what a lot of the features she touted had to do
with a library -- being able to use my Blockbuster card to get videos at the
library seemed an incongruous benefit -- I agreed to sign up.

"Great!" she enthused. "I'll just need to see a photo ID and a major credit
card." As I handed them over, she was not amused by my little joke about how
the library must be taking overdue fines pretty seriously to ask for a
credit card. She proceeded to have me sign an array of Terms of Service,
Acceptable Use, and Privacy Policy documents.

"Just one more," she finally said. "Initial this here and here to show that
you agree your use of all lending library materials will be governed by the
appropriate Microsoft End User License Agreement."

She must have misunderstood, I said. I wasn't there to get any software. I
just wanted to borrow a few books for springtime reading. Why would I need
to agree to a Microsoft EULA for that?

"It's just a formality," she assured me. "Microsoft provides the Digital
Rights Management technology we use to protect the intellectual property
rights of all the authors and artists represented here. So it's really just
an umbrella agreement that allows them to update that technology as needed.
I'm sure you understand."

I didn't, as a matter of fact, and I wanted to ask her how DRM (Digital
Rights Management) could be used to protect a regular, nondigital book. But
she was already popping up from her desk: "Terrific, we're all done. Your
new card is just about finished printing out."

She handed it to me and then led me into the reading room to which I'd
earlier been denied access. All the bookshelves had been removed, replaced
by a multitude of computer terminals, and she gestured to an empty one. "You
get one book rental for free as our thank-you gift for opening your new
account, so you should use our online card catalog to identify which one
you'd like to check out," she said.

I told her I'd rather just browse through the books, an idea she found
delightfully droll. "Yes, I'm sure you would," she chortled. "We'd all like
open access to the bookshelves. But that would mean you could hang around
here for who knows how long reading to your heart's content, wouldn't it?
What kind of library is that?"

That's when it hit me: She'd said earlier that I got one free book rental.
Weren't most book rentals at this library free? Of course not, she said,
handing me a rate card. One glance told me I'd better choose that free book
wisely because I surely couldn't afford many more.

But why was it so expensive to borrow a book? "Do you want to deprive the
authors of all incentive to write?" she asked rhetorically. "They have to be
fairly compensated for their work."

I was tempted to ask why writers had been writing for so long in spite of
free libraries, but then I had an idea. OK, I wouldn't want to shortchange
any living authors of their livelihood, but surely works in the public
domain would still be free. Couldn't I check out a volume of Shakespeare
gratis, for example? Presumably he's already had his just rewards.

"Oh, I'm afraid Shakespeare is particularly expensive," she answered,
explaining that after the Supreme Court ruled that copyright could be
extended indefinitely into the future, Congress couldn't see any reason why
it couldn't be extended indefinitely into the past as well. "Naturally,
those who've contributed the most to keeping his works alive have the
strongest claim on current royalties."

Think of all the movie studios, distributors, producers, directors, and
actors who would have to share my paltry rental fees, she added. Why, for
Romeo and Juliet alone, the library would have to pay royalties to everyone
involved in the latest film version all the way back to West Side Story.
"And, after all, where would Shakespeare be without Leonardo DiCaprio?" she
quipped.

It's hard to argue with that, so I hurriedly chose one of my wife's favorite
mystery authors as my free book and started to leave. On the way out, I
noticed a group of preschoolers gathering in the children's section. The
sign announcing a reading session of Brothers Grimm fairy tales included
"All rights reserved" by the Disney Corp., of course, and "Microsoft
Passport Account" required for admission.

In closing, I should clearly point out that the e-mail version of this
column will be distributed on April 1. But who are the bigger fools -- those
who think my little tale could be true or those who think it could never
happen?


Ed Foster is InfoWorld's reader advocate. Contact him at
address@hidden


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