The Digital Connections Council of the Committee for Economic Development report Promoting Innovation and Economic Growth: The Special Problem of Digital Intellectual Property provides policy recommendations for dealing with issues in digital intellectual property:
- Because quick legislative or regulatory solutions for the problem of digital copyright protection pose risks to innovation and economic growth and are likely to have unintended consequences in a period of rapid technological change, we should move slowly. Our first concern should be to “do no harm.”
- The development and testing of new business models for the distribution of creative content should be given the highest priority by the content industries. We should not turn to law or regulation to protect any particular business model.
- Existing solutions to the issue of unauthorized uses, such as enforcement and education should continue to be explored.
- We recognize the need for for digital rights management (DRM) systems that will allow creators to be rewarded for their efforts. We are skeptical about government-mandated DRM, and we recommend that manufacturers not be required to build in mandated copy protection technologies.
- Market-based economic tools that provide incentives for copyright-holders to facilitate follow-on innovation should be considered– including measures to provide earlier dedication of copyrighted materials to the public domain.
NY Times: Report Raises Questions About Fighting Online Piracy
