Every so often the people fighting sharing slip up and tell us what they really think. Ed Felten points to an article about a program that lets you copy DVDs. “It’s like somebody selling a digital crowbar,” said Patricia Benson, an attorney for the studios.
As Felten points out, crowbars are available at the local hardware store, even though they can be used to break into private property and actually steal things, as well as attacking people. Last time I checked, you didn’t need a license to get one.
In the movie studios world, they’d pass tough new laws making it illegal to sell crowbars, or describe how to build one. They’d speak out against the makers of crowbars, claiming they were only selling them for profit and ignoring the terrible harm they can do. They’d try to throw people who created new innovative crowbars in jail. And, of course, they’d ignore the legitimate reasons to have crowbars.
Would you like to live in that world?