Elon University
The prediction, in brief:

Copyright law will continue in its traditional role of promoting markets for copyrighted goods on the Net, as it does in the tangible world. This does not mean, though, that the market will be unchanged. There is a vast movement afoot – the great and rapidly increasing abundance of information on the Net, far more than we can ever use – which may ultimately reduce our tendency to hoard information under the copyright laws. Information loses its value when there is so much we can’t pick apart the useful data from the chaff.

Predictor: Rose, Lance

Prediction, in context:

In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, attorney and writer Lance Rose comments on copyright issues on the Internet. Rose writes. ”Copyright law will continue in its traditional role of promoting markets for copyrighted goods on the Net, as it does in the tangible world. This does not mean, though, that the market will be unchanged. There is a vast movement afoot – the great and rapidly increasing abundance of information on the Net, far more than we can ever use – which may ultimately reduce our tendency to hoard information under the copyright laws. Information loses its value when there is so much we can’t pick apart the useful data from the chaff.”

Biography:

Lance Rose, a lawyer, earned a high profile for his expertise in Internet issues in the 1990s. He wrote “Netlaw: Your Rights in the Online World” (1995). (Legislator/Politician/Lawyer.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1994

Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues

Subtopic: Copyright/Intellectual Property/Plagiarism

Name of publication: Wired

Title, headline, chapter name: The Emperor’s Clothes Still Fit Just Fine

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.02/rose.if_pr.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney