What do you think about the peer-peer file sharing technology which allows people t copy copyrighted information so easily?
The issue is not simple – so I try to put my thoughts into a few words. In general, the way to make a sane society is to enact and enforce laws rather than to ban a given generic technology. (I would make the exception for things which are specifically designed to harm such as guns and nuclear bombs.) That said, one can make technology which supports our social and legal frameworks better if one does it deliberately. One of the four domains of the World Wide Web Consortium addresses Technology and Society for this reason. For example, in this case, I think we really need standards for encoding the broad licensing terms of material so it can be read and handled automatically. Then we can see, when the technology allows one to see whether information is free or for pay, whether there is still a substantial problem of theft. The basic idea of forwarding copies automatically between machines is a technical optimization of the distribution protocol which is very useful and should not of its
