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I enjoy listening to music and watching movies. I attend concerts and films, rent and buy DVDs, and purchase MP3s and the occasional CD. All these forms of art, and my enjoyment of them, depend on artistic creativity and technological innovation. I have several concerns about copyright consultations that could potentially restrict this.

1. I own hardware like a big-screen TV, a computer, a DVD player, and a cell phone, and I own many legally-obained movies and albums. If I want to watch these movies or listen to music in a way that the hardware manufacturer or music company did not intend, I should be able to legally circumvent any restrictions on doing so. For instance, I should be able to:
   1. watch DVDs on a linux computer
   2. unlock my iphone to enjoy a greater variety of software
   3. watch DVDs I bought overseas
   4. listen to mp3s if the company that sold them to me goes out of business.
2. All great art (and most mediocre art) borrows from the culture of the past. We need to allow artists to sample, remix, parody, and otherwise build on other works.
3. If people are accused of copyright infringement, they should have access to legitimate legal process. They should not automatically lose their internet access. Nor should people be subject to unreasonably high penalties for sharing music. We need to distinguish between commercial and personal activity.
4. ISPs should not be legally responsible for the actions of their customers, nor should they be able to restrict their customers activities based on anything other than the amount of bandwidth they use.
5. Security researchers need to be able to publish their findings, so that users can take their own precautions if their software/hardware vendors are unwilling or unable to.

Finally, I strongly believe that the advent of cheap copying and sharing of music and movies could usher in a new era of abundance. In the past, technological change like records and radio have disrupted existing business models, but artists have continued to adapt and thrive, and audiences have enjoyed the benefits. Existing publishers will always complain — it wasn't that long ago that Jack Valenti of the MPAA compared the VCR to the Boston Strangler. But they will always adapt — now the rental market provides a huge source of revenue for movie companies. Artists are already inventing new business models for the age of sharing, that take advantage of how easy it is to promote new music and have fans spread the word. If we try to reverse this trend for the benefit of existing big record labels, we are only delaying the future.

Sincerely,

Jason McLaren