Hollywood vs. the Internet

Why entertainment companies want to hack your computer.

Mike Godwin from the May 2002 issue

(Page 3 of 3)

The Tech Faction believes people should be able to do whatever they want with their digital tools, except to the extent that copyrighted works are walled off by DRM. The Content Faction believes the digital world isn't safe unless every tool also functions as a copyright policeman.

At the heart of this argument are two questions: whether computer users can continue to enjoy the capabilities computers have had since their invention, and whether the content companies can survive in a world where users have those capabilities. What's been missing from the debate so far has been the users themselves, although some public interest groups are gearing up to tackle the issue. Users may well take the approach I would take: If computers and software start shipping in a hamstrung form, mandated by government, I'll quit buying new equipment. Why trade in last year's feature-rich laptop for a new one that, while faster, has fewer capabilities?

The Content Faction may be right that what people really want is compelling content over broadband. It may even be the case that, if they were asked, most people would be willing to trade the open, robust, relatively simple tools they now have for a more constrained digital world in which they have more content choices. But for now, nobody's asking ordinary people what they want.