Another volley in the Ellison case
(Note: I changed this entry significantly about ten minutes after initial posting, after further consideration of what I'd said.)
Philip Shropshire objects to Ellison's lawsuit. The hyperbolic techno-utopian rhetoric in this article obscures an interesting point, one I haven't seen made before (or maybe just don't remember): if Ellison were to win, it would not help "the little guy" so much as it would help the RIAA. Ellison's relying on the DMCA; any success his suit has strengthens the position of the record companies and the recording industry, who clearly do not have the interests of "the little guy" in mind. This argument initially carried a lot of weight for me, but then I read the response from one of Ellison's lawyers, which points out that the section of the DMCA at issue in the Ellison case is separate from the sections that are of greatest interest to the RIAA. So I'll have to think about that some more to decide whether I really think Ellison's suit supports the RIAA's goals.