Conferences

John Logie began the CCCC Intellectual Property Caucus with a tribute to Candace Spigelman, co-chair of the Caucus, who passed away last year. Candace never lost sight of students in the process of talking about rhetoric and intellectual property. Institutions are here for the benefit of students. He set up a Candace Spigelman Memorial Fund, which will benefit the Caucus. Directions on how to contribute to the fund will be on the web site soon. Then he reviewed the MGM v. Grokster case and explained why we, as rhetoricians, should take an interest in it. He held up two sheets of paper, one in each hand, that said, "THE INTERNET IS A PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK." The Grokster case, he argued, represents the threat of suppressing technologies that merely have the potential to be used for copyright infringement. Jeff Galin (I think) posed these questions: Can we engage our students to get active in this as well? Can we imagine ways that free use and fair use might intersect? What roles are we going to play to challenge Congress and the entertainment industry?

The 2002 Computers, Freedom, & Privacy Conference (finishing up on April 19) includes a session on "Fair Use By Design". Included are discussions of

Here's the workshop overview:

Of expanding significance within the technological landscape are digital rights management tools. These tools raise a host of complex questions about the free exchange of information, individual privacy, freedom to publish and to innovate - questions, in other words, about the impact of technology on the exercise of legal rights. The workshop will explore the impact of digital rights management tools specifically on fair use. The workshop will use short framing presentations to stimulate dialogue among the participants and audience.

Although Digital Rights Management (DRM) software (e.g., digitial watermarking, etc.) has been discussed in many places, the discussion here include specific sessions on using DRM software to allow fair use, a unique proposition. - goto