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This seems to kind of tread into the territory of DeCSS haikus [1]; if I can speak (tweet) the file, isn't that expression of my rights to free speech? [1] htt

by Animus7 15y ago

This seems to kind of tread into the territory of DeCSS haikus [1]; if I can speak (tweet) the file, isn't that expression of my rights to free speech? [1] http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/decss-haiku.txt http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/DeCSS/Gallery/decss-haiku.txt

cyanbane 15y ago
Yup. I remember when DeCSS hit they had shirts printed up with the code on the back. I know this was a small file the OP sent, but at what point is the medium the moved to a context in which it is free speech? Has twitter reached that point? Are they an immovable third party communications medium?
icebraining 15y ago
if I can speak (tweet) the file, isn't that expression of my rights to free speech? Philosophically? Possibly. Legally? No, since public performances of literary works are speech too and they're still protected by copyright.
- cyanbane 15y ago
  Interesting (IANAL). So what is the legal distinction, persistence? I read recently that the MLK "I Have a Dream" Speech was copy-written. I assume the difference in persistence comes from the delta between if I go up to the front of an auditorium and read the speech vs if I record that speech to an auditorium and redistribute it. Twitter would be an archive-able public medium is that where its usage as a medium gets moved to illegal?
  - icebraining 15y ago
    No, there's no distinction, going up to the front of an auditorium and reading the speech is copyright infringement too. According to the law, that speech is not protected free speech. (by the way, sorry, nitpick: copywritten → copyrighted)
beej71 15y ago
It's a little different, since the DeCSS code wasn't copyrighted. Your right to redistribute other people's copyrighted data is severely limited by law. But if something's not copyrighted, and then They say you can't redistribute it, well, then we have something more like DeCSS.

by Animus7 15y ago

cyanbane 15y ago

Yup. I remember when DeCSS hit they had shirts printed up with the code on the back. I know this was a small file the OP sent, but at what point is the medium the moved to a context in which it is free speech? Has twitter reached that point? Are they an immovable third party communications medium?

icebraining 15y ago

if I can speak (tweet) the file, isn't that expression of my rights to free speech? Philosophically? Possibly. Legally? No, since public performances of literary works are speech too and they're still protected by copyright.

cyanbane 15y ago
Interesting (IANAL). So what is the legal distinction, persistence? I read recently that the MLK "I Have a Dream" Speech was copy-written. I assume the difference in persistence comes from the delta between if I go up to the front of an auditorium and read the speech vs if I record that speech to an auditorium and redistribute it. Twitter would be an archive-able public medium is that where its usage as a medium gets moved to illegal?
- icebraining 15y ago
  No, there's no distinction, going up to the front of an auditorium and reading the speech is copyright infringement too. According to the law, that speech is not protected free speech. (by the way, sorry, nitpick: copywritten → copyrighted)

beej71 15y ago

It's a little different, since the DeCSS code wasn't copyrighted. Your right to redistribute other people's copyrighted data is severely limited by law. But if something's not copyrighted, and then They say you can't redistribute it, well, then we have something more like DeCSS.