John Scott, Earl of Eldon
Rushed into law in the dying days of the Labour government, The Digital Economy Act has been described by Guardian Columnist Cory Doctorow as establishing an unprecedented realm of web censorship in Britain.
This is not what the Act seeks to do, ostensibly at least, but it is seen as an inevitable if perhaps unintended consequence of a badly framed, hurriedly passed piece of legislation. The Act has many aims, not least among which is combating illegal
file-sharing.
Critics have pointed out that Sweden’s similar attempt to legislate in this area recently suffered an epic fail due to that pesky law of unintended consequences. An initial 30% dip in internet traffic was followed within months by a surge to yet higher levels– only now much of the traffic was encrypted and untraceable, presenting the authorities with even bigger problems than before.
In researching previous blog posts on
the history of copyright, I came across an interesting earlier example of the law of unintended consequences leading to outcomes directly opposite to those which had been intended, in the area of copyright and censorship.
Enter Lord Eldon.
Continue reading →
Publishers know they have to innovate to survive in the jungle of online publishing, with the big beasts of technology such as Amazon, Google and Apple all too willing and able, it seems, to disintermediate traditional publishers out of existence.
But two conflicting models of innovation seem to present themselves. One is open, data-driven and responsive, the other more ‘walled garden’ and perhaps even hieratic in character. How should publishers decide which to follow? Continue reading 