[overflow] Copyrights (by way of Tom Smith got his wish...)

[Rich Brown <rab@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Should copyrights work the same way for encrypted and 'open'
material?  I think they shouldn't.  In the U.S. copyright law supposedly
comes from the idea that if you give creative people an exclusive right
to publish their work for some limited time, the act of creation will be
encouraged.  The creators get a government-mandated right to exclusivity
for 'a while' and have no rights thereafter.

Assuming 'some limited time' doesn't turn into infinity-minus-one years
this system works for 'open' material.  The author gets some royalty
from the work for a while, but eventually it becomes available for
anyone to tinker with, update, improve, etc.

This system won't work in the case of encrypted products.  Let's say you
create "The All-Digital Adventures of Tin-Rin-Tin".  For the first
--oh-- 60 years, your're protected by copyright _and_ encryption.  When
the copyright period ends you may still rely on the encryption.  You end
up getting copyright protection for free, the public gets diddley.

Simple fix, you say.  At the end of the copyright period force the
copyright owner to release an uncrypted version to the public
domain.  But... companies go bankrupt... secret keys get forgotten (or
"forgotten")... and so on.  The public gets diddley.

I have two alternatives.  One way would be to not allow copyrights for
'crypted material.  Publishers who choose the 'crypted route run the
risk that their encryption will be broken, at which point the public
gets a public domain work and the publisher gets diddley.

In the second plan, the one I prefer, if you want to copyright
a 'crypted work you must immediately give the [copyright office? /
Library of Congress?] an unencrypted copy and $10 to help cover the cost
of storage.  Want to extend the copyright beyond one year?  Year two
costs you 2 copies and $20.  Next year it is four copies and $40,
then eight/$80, and so on.  Eventually you'll decide not to renew.  At
that point the copyright office or L.o.C. will distribute your
now-public-domain works. 


    --- Rich Brown --- rab --- http://FreeMars.org ---