Mr. Google Goes To Washington (And Demands Full Disclosure On Anti-Piracy Treaty)

Leading a coalition of internet advocacy groups and web-related companies, Google Inc. recently testified in front of the Department of Commerce in Washington. The issue at hand was the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a developing international treaty that aims to reduce piracy and counterfeiting of copyrighted material. While the treaty is yet unwritten, the proceedings surrounding its composition have been conducted in secrecy.

Though the treaty also concerns such physical goods as electronics and pharmaceuticals, it is its provisions toward digital media that garnered Google’s attention. A leaked outline of the treaty indicated that it might endow corporate copyright holders with the ability to hold ISPs (internet service providers) responsible for any copyrighted material distributed using their services. While internet issues had allegedly not yet been discussed in the hearings, the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the U.S. trade office, demanding it publicize the details of the negotiations.

Although signing the treaty would require no change to existing U.S. law, Google urged the Bush administration not to sign (or to at least exclude the internet from the treaty), as doing so would freeze the law in its current state. In a changing media climate, argued representatives from Google, the U.S. Congress and courts have not yet found the appropriate balance between copyright protection and free exchange of information. Asked Google policy counsel Johanna Shelton, “Why would we want to enshrine one view of U.S. law?”

In the opinion of this writer, this balance (between copyright and fair use) will never be “settled.” As our methods of media distribution adapt to rapidly-developing technology, there may be no “end point” for U.S. copyright law. Gone are the days of a static approach to an unchanging media environment. There now exists, rather, a constantly shifting equilibrium that must be maintained by both the government and its citizens as the circumstances develop.

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