NineShift has declared 2007 the year in which the intellectual property (IP) and copyright issue "resolved."
The struggle continues. The fat lady hasn't sung yet, and the news media hasn't a clue. But it's pretty much over.
In May of 2007 there was a story that's likely to be part of IP history. Here's the story. There is a 32 digit code that is a critical part of an encryption code that prevents a person from copying high definition DVDs. The code starts with 09 F9.... and it is illegal to print/share the code under the misnamed horse-and-buggy law called the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. A few kids of course started sharing the code. So the movie industry took action against the kids.
So what happened? So many people, one estimate says a million, were angered that everybody started posting the entire code on web sites all over the world. The site Digg.com was at the center of the media frenzy over it. So the code is now essentially useless. For more on the story go here.
The moral of the story: The intellectual property/copyright rights of the public trump the financial interests of the IP holder. And the Lesson of the Story: if you don't share it, everyone else will. And you can't sue a million people. Like the story? Hate the story? What's your view? Share it now!
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