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Tinkerers' champion

http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1176171

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Tinkerers' champion

Jun 20th 2002

>From The Economist print edition  

It is not just libertarians who are concerned about the restrictions caused by America's latest copyright law. Edward Felten, a professor at Princeton University, argues that the “freedom to tinker”—the right to understand, repair and modify one's own equipment— is crucial to innovation, and as valuable to society as the freedom of speech.

[...]

Another issue is licensing. Consumers assume that they own products once they have paid for them. But increasingly, they are only licensing them. This is the case with most shrink-wrapped software bought in stores and with software downloaded from developers' websites. Either you accept to license, not own, the product when you click the “I accept” button at the end of those screenfuls of legalese or you cannot use it. But the same is true for an increasing number of devices, such as Internet appliances. Suppliers of such gadgets could use licences to prohibit any tinkering. Should consumers, Dr Felten asks, be encouraged to bargain away their freedom to tinker?

Dr Felten is the first to admit that his arguments are not yet focused enough. He intends to write a book about the topic when he is back at Princeton. The treatise on tinkering is certain to find avid readers—especially among the millions who spend countless hours playing with their computers, cars and cameras.

It would be a surprise if they did not put up a fight. Many are preparing to do so already. Protests are being voiced with increasing vigour against a bill recently introduced in Congress by Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, on behalf of Disney and other media giants, requiring a piracy-detection system to be built into all digital entertainment devices. If the legislation passes, critics warn that personal computers would become nothing more than a costly but entirely dumb machine for playing DVDs.

The bill could also criminalise open-source software, such as the increasingly popular operating system, Linux. Copy-protection systems usually come with proprietary software that is hidden or cannot be altered—something that no self-respecting open-source hacker would integrate into a program. No wonder all those who care about innovation—the freedom to tinker and create new ways of doing things—are up in arms.

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