woo HOO!
So... my Digital Copyright paper, for better or worse, is FINISHED and emailed off to my prof! How exciting! How weird! Hm, now I'm all nervous. Don't know why. Here's an excerpt for you though...
"The United States Constitution expressly states, “[t]he Congress shall have the power… [t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” (emphasis added). The Constitution does not grant Congress the power to grant creative property rights, nor does it identify its purpose as rewarding authors. This clause has a public, and specific, purpose – that of promoting progress, and nothing more...
In order to protect, nurture, and cultivate new innovations, current law and technology must be willing to breed changes and improvements. Despite Congress’ intent, American laws are currently protecting some speech at the expense of others. Though copyright is important to creativity, the United States needs to accept that the future of our culture relies more on technology and innovations than extreme protection of older works. After acceptance, the United States must then take active steps to encourage advances; only then will we return to the purpose set out by our Framers in our Constitution."
If you're interested in reading U.S. Copyright Law and Its Restrictions on Innovation and Technology, please know that I'm trying to find a way to post it (as it's over 30 pages long).... bear with me.