[p2p-research] 10 Years Later, Misunderstood DMCA is the Law That Saved the Web | Threat Level | Wired.com

[Paul D. Fernhout]

"10 Years Later, Misunderstood DMCA is the Law That Saved the Web | Threat 
Level | Wired.com"
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/10/ten-years-later/
"""
The DMCA (.pdf) was conceived a decade ago as the United States’ 
implementation of an international copyright treaty called WIPO. Hollywood 
wanted the bill to protect its intellectual property from being infringed on 
a massive scale, and secured a still-troubling anti-circumvention rule that 
generally prevents consumers from bypassing copy protection schemes. But 
history has shown that the far-more beneficial element in the law is a 
provision that provides ISPs, hosting companies and interactive services 
near blanket immunity for the intellectual property violations of their 
users — a provision responsible for opening vast speech and business 
opportunities — realized and unrealized.
"""

Also more on ACTA:
"Copyright Treaty Is Policy Laundering at Its Finest"
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/policy-laundering/
"""
Obama hasn’t asked Congress to implement a three-strike policy, which could 
anger consumers and watchdog groups. But if the administration gets three 
strikes written into ACTA, and the United States signs and ratifies the 
treaty, Congress would be obliged to change the DMCA to comply with it, 
while the administration throws its hands in the air and says, “It wasn’t 
our idea! It’s that damn treaty!”
   That practice is common enough to have a name: policy laundering.
"""

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/