One for Lists fans...

There's an interesting piece on the .zdnet site which lists the Top Ten things holding back the development of technology.

The list includes some less than obvious choices, and all are nicely argued - a good read over your lunchtime sandwich.

Comments

[Stuart Langridge]

It'd be interesting to hear from an IP lawyer's perspective whether IP law is irretrievably broken, as the article suggests. I personally think it is, but...not a lawyer :) What does it look like from inside rather than outside the fence?

[Simon Bradshaw]

The article makes the assertion that

'The ideal world of the intellectual property lawyer is one where nothing can move without permission; no idea can happen unless it is approved.'

Now, speaking as an aspiring IP lawyer, that's certainly not how I view the world! There are indeed major issues with the way IP law is coping (or not coping) with new technologies, but this sort of extreme position doesn't help much in constructing a meaningful debate on the way forward.

It also quotes Tehranian's paper, which makes some useful observations but seems to wilfully ignore the whole concept of 'fair use'. The vast figure he comes up with as damages for the alleged copyright infringements committed during a typical day is not much more realistic than the figure that could be arrived at for potential damages if every tiny trespass and nuisance committed in everyday life was pursued to the maximum literal extent of the law.

The copyright 'debate' is, depressingly, characterised by the adoption of extreme positions on each side from which advocates of one camp throw rocks at straw-man caricatures of the other. We do need a long, hard look at IP reform, but it will take genuine dialogue rather than polemic.