The Commodification of Information

ABSTRACT: Information and the marketplace are uneasy bedfellows. The dissemination of information via media can have many different and overlapping purposes, including entertainment, art, ideology, and research. It is particularly among groups that need to share information-the academic and scientific communities, for example-that viewing it as something that can be bought and sold is intrusive and even damaging. There are many other reasons why the commodification of information, which continues to move from strength to strength with the expansion of international free trade, must be carefully scrutinized. A conference of specialists-with expertise encompassing the area of law and practice where intellectual property, communications, privacy, free speech, collaborative research, and international trade all intersect-met under the auspices of the University of Haifa Faculty of Law in May 1999. This book presents the penetrating analyses and recommendations that emerged from that conference. As one might expect, a broad spectrum of views is expressed, from commercialism as the liberator of free speech to commodification as de facto censorship. Among the vital topics discussed, the interested reader will find the following: how market-driven doctrine and rhetoric jeopardize the cultural commons; market control as copyright's new paradigm; the free software movement; how the ECHR may impose limits on EU copyright law, especially property rights in databases; the conflict between availability of domestic media and international free trade; tracking and manipulation of personal Internet use; patenting DNA sequences and DNA molecules; and how "commercial" speech trumps "free" speech. Several contributors examine the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and its redefinition of such traditional IP concepts as "fair use" and "market failure". The Commodification of Information will prove a landmark work for all those involved with this complex area of knowledge and activity. Software developers, academic and research institutions, corporate counsel, government policymakers and regulators-all these and more will benefit enormously from the thoughtful and incisive discussion presented here. SUMMARY: Introduction: The Commodification of Information; N.W. Netanel, N. Elkin-Koren. I. Foundations. Incomplete Commodification in the Computerized World; M.J. Radin. Electronic Commerce and Free Speech; J. Litman. Two Cheers for the Commodification of Information; E. Noam. II. Copyright and Commodification: Broad Trends. Copyright, Commodification, and Censorship: Past as Prologue-But to What Future? P. Samuelson. It's All About Control: Rethinking Copyright in the New Information Landscape; N. Elkin-Koren. Anarchism Triumphant: Free Software and the Death of Copyright; E. Moglen. Intellectual Property and the Internet: The Share of Sharing; E. Mackaay. III. Copyright and Commodification: Doctrine and Doctrinal Developments. Excuse and Justification in the Law of Fair Use: Distinguishing Empirical from Normative Market Failure; W. Gordon. How Much Solicitude for Fair Use Is There in the Anti-Circumvention Provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act? D. Nimmer. Copyright Developments in Europe: The Good, the Bad and the Harmonized; D. Vaver. Copyright and Freedom of Expression in Europe; P. Bernt Hugenholtz. IV. Media and Telecommunications. International Trade in Media Products; C.E. Baker. A Speakers' Corner Under the Sun; Y. Benkler. The Commercial Mass Media's Continuing Fourth Estate Role; N.W. Netanel. V. Information Aggregation. Hardware-Based ID, Rights Management, and Trusted Systems; J. Weinberg. Databases-In Search of the Free Flow of Information; A.K. Sanders. VI. Collaborative Production and Scientific Research. Commodifying Collaborative Research; R. Cooper Dreyfuss. Patents on DNA Sequences: Molecules and Information; R. Eisenberg. New Research Norms for a New Medium; H. Nissenbaum. VII. Market Practices. Network Effects, Standardization, and the Internet: What Have We Learned From the DVD v. DIVX Battle? D. Dranove, N. Gandal. Vaporware, The Internet, and Consumer Behavior; D. McGowan. The Contributors. Index.