The failure to address both intellectual property and free-expression issues not only threatens the success of NII, but also reflects a failure of the policymaking process itself … As more information becomes available in digital format, and technologies for digital copying are increasingly widespread and affordable, U.S. intellectual property law will become more and more outmoded.
Predictor: Cate, Fred
Prediction, in context:The 1995 book “The Information Revolution,” edited by Donald Altschiller, carries a reprint of the 1994, Stanford Law & Policy Review article “The National Information Infrastructure: Policymaking and Policymakers” by Fred Cate. Cate discusses the role of government in information policy making. He writes: ”The failure to address both intellectual property and free-expression issues not only threatens the success of NII, but also reflects a failure of the policymaking process itself … Protecting the integrity of digital works is likely to require revision of U.S. intellectual property laws, designed for a world in which copying was difficult, economically impractical, and relatively easy to regulate by focusing on the physical manifestation of the work and the actual incident of copying (e.g., photocopying a book). As more information becomes available in digital format, and technologies for digital copying are increasingly widespread and affordable, U.S. intellectual property law will become more and more outmoded.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Copyright/Intellectual Property/Plagiarism
Name of publication: The Information Revolution (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: The National Information Infrastructure: Policymaking and Policymakers
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 159
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne