In the digital world it is not just a matter of copying being easier and copies more faithful. We will see a new kind of fraud, which may not be fraud at all. When I read something on the Internet and, like a clipping from a newspaper, wish to send it to somebody else or to a mailing list of people, this seems harmless. But, with less than a dozen keystrokes, I could redeliver the media to literally thousands of people all over the planet (unlike a newspaper clipping). Clipping bits is very different than clipping atoms.
Predictor: Negroponte, Nicholas
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “Being Digital,” Nicholas Negroponte writes: ”In the digital world it is not just a matter of copying being easier and copies more faithful. We will see a new kind of fraud, which may not be fraud at all. When I read something on the Internet and, like a clipping from a newspaper, wish to send it to somebody else or to a mailing list of people, this seems harmless. But, with less than a dozen keystrokes, I could redeliver the media to literally thousands of people all over the planet (unlike a newspaper clipping). Clipping bits is very different than clipping atoms.”
Biography:Nicholas Negroponte, a co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab and a popular speaker and writer about technologies of the future, wrote one of the 1990s’ best-selling books about the new future of communications, “Being Digital.” (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: February 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Copyright/Intellectual Property/Plagiarism
Name of publication: Being Digital (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 4: The Bit Police
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 59
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne