A Better Way Forward For P2P: Voluntary Collective Licensing Jason Schultz EFF Staff Attorney jason@eff.org ( http://www.eff.org ) Copyright ©2004 Electronic Frontier Foundation. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license. <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/1.0/>

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing Presentation Outline The Problem The Context The Choices The Solution The Future A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing The Problem Copyright Infringement is an important issue Copyright gives incentives to create art Mass copying of works without paying creators fails to compensate them for their labors File-sharing doesn’t compensate artists fairly Some see boosts in concert tickets, CD sales Others get nothing Problem is how to fairly compensate artists A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing The Context Universities have a strong role to play in dealing with copyright infringement Historically, however, this role has been educational, not enforcement Coursebooks, CD parties, Videogames Never installed surveillance cameras, raided dorm rooms As pressure intensifies to solve P2P, universities must assess appropriate role and resources. What are you good at doing and how should you do it? A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing The Choices Education Enforcement Alternative Content VCL Nothing A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

Tech Enforcement Won’t Work Technical enforcement breaks the Internet Packet “profiling” as flawed as “racial profiling” Data is Data, especially when encrypted Danger to Academic Freedom Could chill searching for controversial subjects Pirates will piggy-back on legitimate traffic How many ports are you willing to block? Bandwidth thresholds limit access to legitimate works We don’t limit how many books students can read in the library; why should we limit how much they can read on the ‘Net? Potentially Chills next great innovation Yahoo, Google: started as student projects as Stanford A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

Legal Enforcement Won’t Work P2P as popular as ever Students traditionally defy absolute bans that don’t fit their social norms (e.g. alcohol) Universities’ burden to respond to DMCA notices and subpoenas will only get worse No end in sight A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

Alternative Content Won’t Work Napster can’t compete with P2P Selection (Entire History Of Music) Access (Any Internet Connection) Choice of Software (Any Application) Choice of format (Any Player, Any CD) Students don’t perceive Napster as paying artists Still face the same resistance to buying CDs. Gives students no ownership over solving this problem A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing The Solution: VCL Artists and rightholders should be paid Students should be free from surveillance Everyone should have choices Universities should be partners with both artists and students, not enforcers and spies. Governmental intervention minimized A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing VCL: The Precedent Broadcast Radio -- Pirates of the Airwaves Played songs without permission or compensation Musicians sued; case led to modern radio licensing Collecting the Money ASCAP/BMI/SESAC were formed Collect blanket fees for all-you-can-play radio Use casual enforcement and simple model to encourage compliance A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing VCL: The Precedent Broadcast Radio: Distributing the Money Sample Radio Playlists (~2 days/year/station) Surveys (Arbitron) Pay artists based on popularity of songplay A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

VCL: How Would Work For P2P Collecting the Money Copyright holders form new collection societies like ASCAP/BMI Each user pays $5/month for an “all you can eat” license 60 Million U.S. Users = $300M/month in revenue Paying Artists Sample P2P Networks Survey students who use P2P Recruit volunteer “Nielsen” students to report playlists A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing VCL: Conclusion Nothing is perfect, but time has come to explore solutions This system pays artists; enforcement does not Not price-fixing; $5 rate can be adjusted to market Minimal government intervention, if any Eliminates large part of universities’ burden to police, enforce, restrict, punish students. Can focus on education and incentives to sign up or simply choose to pay for all students as part of student fees. Gives students ownership over the solution A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019

A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing The Future The Internet is One Giant Copy Machine Infringement Scenarios and Burdens Will Only Get Worse WiFi, Mobile Devices Need to Set Normative Model Now Spying and ubiquitous enforcement won’t work Simple systems that pay creators will A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective Licensing 4/9/2019