Has anyone pinned down presidential candidate Howard Dean on the issue of Net-hostile copyright legislation? And how does the former Vermont governor feel about a well-stocked national digital library in the TeleRead vein? Within the limits of my time, I couldn’t exactly find volumes on these questions–even though I suspect he’s replied somewhere to the general copyright-related one. I’ll take a quick stab right now with an e-mail to his people. Hey, Dean is The Man for many on the Net. Will he show appropriate gratitude and look out for our interests? No rhetorical questions here. I won’t assume anything right now until more information reaches me, one way or another.
Meanwhile, browsing campaign records released electronically on April 16, I see that Dean’s donors in the “TV/Movies/Music” category came in at $97,100 and ranked sixth on the Top Industries list for Dean. But the entertainment biz doesn’t even show up on an industry-related table summing up donations to Dean’s Fund for a Healthy America. A little hope here? Dean’s total presidential donations as of March 31 were about $3 million (not sure, actually, if that would include PAC money).
For comparison’s sake, I looked up data on North Carolina Senator and rival presidential candidate John Edwards, who, at least in the past, has been eager to stay on good terms with Hollywood. He’s gotten at least $999,500 from the entertainment biz for the presidential campaign, mostly via New American Optimists, where Hollywood and friends came in at Number Two. Edwards’ total presidential campaign receipts as of March 31 were apparently $19 million.
A few more thoughts here:
–Perhaps eventually the copyright interests will understand the usefulness of a well-stocked national digital in fighting the piracy problem. Put the big-time crooks out of business by making the goodies free in many cases. No total solutions claimed here, but copyrighted books, movies and music are just a speck of our Gross Domestic Product. And if knowledge really builds wealth, then more library funding would be rather cost-effective.
–The possibility always exists that Edwards can take some sensible stands in the future. He has depicted himself as a populist in certain areas. How about digital libraries, Senator? Meanwhile I was delighted to learn of Edwards’ position against relaxing regulations on media monopolies.
–Time for EFF and similar organizations to pin down candidates such as Dean and Edwards? Within the EFF site, via the site:eff.org wrinkle, I did Google searches on their names and the term “public domain.” Zilch. Same for “DMCA.” I doubt that EFF’s libertarians would come out for TeleRead, but the public domain and DMCA questions ought to be of interest.
–Will Dean add Net-related issues to his online campagin literature summing up his position on important issues? And don’t telll me that matters such as the public domain–and the loathsome copyright extension–are not of concern. What’s more, what about the Net’s potential for education and libraries in general? Time for a well-stocked national digital library to help spread the books and other goodies around–and drive down costs at the local level, while reducing the famous “savage inequalities”?
Update, July 9: Dean’s people would do well to check out the just-made post on the mass use of tablet-style computers in cash-strapped public schools. They should keep in mind the need for good content, not just wires and hardware.
