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My Life--Bill Clinton's memoirsRight near the battery rack at the local Safeway, across the aisle from the ice cream bars, I perused the pages of My Life–the new book by Bill Clinton. Something inside me balked at the prospect of paying for this thing. Other writers could better use the money; I’d wait for a library copy.

Years ago I had differed with the Clinton White House over copyright policy and the Internet, and I was curious what the word “Copyright” might conjure up from the index. Zilch. I looked for the word “Internet” in the index. Nothing. Actually in the text itself I found a quick mention of the eRate for schools and libraries, of which I approved. But guess what Clinton wanted us to remember him for–the V-Chip. That’s right: it showed up five times in the index. Monica Lewisky’s lover praised the chip as an upholder of American values.

Left out: Clinton on copyright and the Net

The big question is what Clinton left out about copyright and the Net. Just what political bargains did he and his boys strike with Jack Valenti and the rest of Hollywood crew at the expense of schools and libraries. The damage lingers. Clinton, after all, signed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act which ultimately will cost the schools and libraries billions while enriching the copyright elite.

Will we learn? I’m not sure. I admire Larry Lessig for his legal talents, and Ralph Nader, too; but why oh why are Lessig and Nader so keen on John Edwards as John Kerry’s running mate, when so many questions linger about Edwards and copyright. Just why is the Senator–a member of a copyright-related committee–not rendered accountable for the million dollars that an Edwards PAC received from just one Hollywood producer early on in the Presidential race? And what about the five million that John Kerry and other Dems raked in recently at a single Hollywood affair? Can’t law professors and Net journalists show more curiosity and follow up on items here and in another patch of the blogsphere? On copyright matters, will the very possible team of Kerry and Edwards screw the Net with the dedication that Clinton’s boys did regardless of positives such as the eRate? Just what will the Presidential memoirs of John Kerry not say?

 
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