EU consultation on IT (and a bit on copyright and DRM)

[Who are you?]

The EU has started the Public consultation on post-i2010: priorities for new strategy for European information society (2010-2015), wanting to know how to regulate Information and Communcation Technology for the next 5 years.

Most questions are not all that relevant for the people here (nearly all questions are optional to answer, so don't worry about that), however some questions are relevant for all consumers, so if you're an EU citizen let your voice be heard.

Originally Posted by Sample questions

6) Promoting access to creativity at all levels

In terms of expectations, Internet users' and the creative content providing sector have never been as at odds as they are today. Creative industry players are struggling to find new viable business models that are able to ensure sufficient revenues for creators and to meet consumer expectations. The market for digital content is still fragmented and broadcasters and other content providers, together with end-users are prevented from benefiting from a true digital Single Market.

Participative platforms have grown as passive users (readers, viewers, consumers etc.) have become active producers (or "prosumers"). These users tend to ignore their statutory rights and their obligations towards rights holders for the content they transform or/and simply share in web 2.0 communities. Moreover, intermediaries generally impose take-itor-leave-it complex standard terms of use to their users. Against this background, users currently do not enjoy a clear set of rights balancing the conditions set by rights holders (with DRMs [Digital Rights Management] and/or license agreements) and internet services or platforms imposing restrictive standard terms of use.

In a landscape characterized by peer-to-peer and other such offers, it is essential that SMEs in the EU content sector are capable of providing the content and appropriate platforms for distribution.

Public institutions and private partners are beginning to preserve the European cultural heritage digitally. So far only a tiny fraction of the works held by Europe's cultural institutions are available in electronic format. Digitisation of cultural resources is hindered mainly by the lack of adequate funding and by copyright-related issues.

A - Affirming users' rights in the participative web
Participative web enhances, among others, users' self-expression, creativity and media pluralism.

1. 6.1. How can users be empowered through transparent information? -multiple choices reply- (optional)
   • Warrant new forms of transparency obligations for standard terms and conditions imposed by web 2.0 services to ensure that end-users are aware and understand their rights and obligations
   • Reshape privacy rules to guarantee that users have access and can effectively control over their personal data stored online
   • Promote self-regulation
   • Adopt stricter measures aimed at protecting minors in the social networking web
   • Others
     please specify: -open reply- (optional)
2. 6.2. How can creativity be stimulated by building EU-wide easily accessible mechanism to allow users to clear rights and be free to work on existing content for non-commercial
   purposes? -multiple choices reply- (optional)
   • Ease the complexity of copyright management
   • Establish a rights clearance database to facilitate creation and distribution of content online
   • Make copyright law more flexible as regards non-commercial uses
   • Promote alternative open licensing schemes
   • Others
3. 6.2.1. Please give examples: -open reply- (optional)
4. 6.3. A "fair" non-commercial use of licensed content should be free of technological restrictions in terms of interoperability. Should interoperability of content be left to the market or should users have a clear statutory right to play the content they paid for anytime, anywhere and on any platform? -single choice reply- (optional)
   • Market
   • Statutory right

You can find the questionnaire here.

[zerospinboson]

Anyone have a clue what to answer to "6.5. What would facilitate the emergence of business models not based on territorial copyrights?"?

[Danny Fekete]

How about an international registry of content-creators (individuals and agglomerates) and their current and past enterprises? A diminishing-returns payment scheme for registered creators, based upon attributed use and funded by taxes collected in all participating territories would provide support for ongoing creative endeavours and maintain pressures on the artist for quality and relevancy the way much of the market currently does, but would prevent run-away success (like J. K. Rowling's) from dominating funding while still rewarding it. The creative content would be free to all, and the taxes would be higher (accounting for, perhaps, the money spent by individuals to buy books, CDs, movies, etc.).

How about?

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by zerospinboson

Anyone have a clue what to answer to "6.5. What would facilitate the emergence of business models not based on territorial copyrights?"?

e-commerce