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The digital dilemma
Davis R. Communications of the ACM44 (2):77-83,2001.Type:Article
Date Reviewed: Mar 1 2001

Davis summarizes and reviews a report by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academies [1]. This paper covers the key issues in balancing the need to create incentives for creative people to create digital content against society’s desire to transmit information as easily and cheaply as possible. The key difference between physical and digital access to a work lies in the fact that digital access virtually always involves making a copy. This means that to control copying--the traditional key to enforcing authors’ rights--one has to control access, which is far more difficult (and potentially intrusive). Furthermore, anyone with a personal computer has the potential to make almost limitless copies of anything digital, the legal ramifications of which are often poorly understood. Davis reviews ways of managing these issues. The most promising seems to be the development of good business models that will make it uneconomical, or at least inconvenient, to create or obtain illicit copies. For example, one can create digital products that are so customized that there is little incentive for other users to copy that custom product. The paper makes clear that this is a rapidly evolving area that will require the contributions of people in many disciplines to create good and workable policy.

Reviewer:  Joan Horvath Review #: CR124638
1) Computer Science and Telecommunications Board The digital dilemma: intellectual property in the Information Age. National Academy Press, Washington, 2000.
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