France's highest court has ruled that the country's
new online piracy law is "unconstitutional". The law allows persistent online file sharers to be
disconnected by internet service providers, but judges said that
internet access is a "human right" and that only a judge should be
able to sanction disconnection. Laurence
Kay, a lawyer who specialises in digital law and intellectual
property, explains why he thinks the judges are wrong, as the UK
government gears up to release its own policy with this week's
Digital Britain report.  |
|---|
Our lives are increasingly lived online. Through social
networking sites, online banking and e-mail communications, both
our business and social lives revolve around being
connected.
If you cut somebody off from that network, it has a material
impact on the way you live. Without connectivity, we can feel
literally cut off - both in a technological sense but also in an
emotional and human sense.
But does that mean access to the internet is really a human
right? And does it not come with some obligations? If you have a
mobile phone, you know that in order to have that service there is
something you have got to do in exchange. If you get cut off
because you didn't pay your bill, you wouldn't argue it's your
human right to continue using that phone.
We are moving into a world where content is increasingly
delivered over the networks, rather than through physical products.
As we move from one world to the next, we need to make sure that
the rules change and people are properly remunerated. The creative
economy is dependent on it. It's very important that these rules
work, so that people who make their livelihoods from developing
content can continue to do so. What we cannot have is a "free for
all", because then we simply won't get the content - if authors,
for example, know they wont get paid, they won't be in a position
to keep writing.
Broadly speaking we have got a system that works, but it needs
to be tweaked in some areas. We need 21st century ways of dealing
with things like finding out who owns things and clearing
copyright. There also need to be exceptions - for example, some
updates to existing exceptions to copyright law to enable libraries
and similar institutions to carry out digital preservation. But we
need to make sure the right people get the right rewards.
Ultimately, the solution is about developing better business
models. Most people, if there's a legitimate alternative to buy
content legally, will go for that. It's also about consumer
attitudes - there's currently a "culture of free" and there's an
expectation that you will be able to get these things for free. We
need evolution of consumer attitudes, but it's a huge process of
change.
Laurence Kaye is a solicitor who specialises in digital law.
He has been appointed by the UK's Strategic Advisory Board For
Intellectual Property Policy (SABIP) as one of five members of its
newly created Copyright Expert Panel. He’s also a regular
blogger on digital media law issues.