Village Voice article on 'blogocrats,' Howard Dean, Lawrence L

Anya Kamenetz of the Village Voice interviewed me via email a while back, and I just discovered while egosurfing myself at Google News that the Voice last week published Anya's brief, excellent story on the intersection of Howard Dean's presidential bid and the "blogocrats" who have free-culture concerns at the top of their list of priorities.

Howard Dean made a huge splash in the free-culture community when he guest-blogged at Lessig Blog in July. But he disappointed some by not taking a firm stand on intellectual-property issues--the primary focus of Lawrence Lessig's blog.

I was happy enough that he felt comfortable posting at such a place, as Lessig is pretty much characterized as the devil by supporters of our present copyright laws. Dean's mere presence on the blog indicated, at the least, that he wasn't in the back pocket of the big media companies, or looking to climb into that pocket. Dean also said he was still working out a position on intellectual-property issues and came to Lessig Blog to listen.

Anya's article highlights the lingering restlessness among the free-culture community, however:

Thanks to his Internet-centered campaigning, presidential contender Howard Dean appears to be far more wired into the wired electorate than his Democratic rivals or George W. Bush. Dean's innovative use of the Web has gotten plaudits from the press, and his courting of the wired crowd seems to be paying offó10,000 people showed up for an August 24 rally in cybercity Seattle. But if Dean is to keep the goodwill of blogocrats, he must find the message to match their medium.

It is perhaps with this obligation in mind that the former Vermont governor spent a week in mid July as a guest blogger on the online journal of Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig. A cyberspace hero, Lessig is the author of Code, and Other Laws of Cyberspace and The Future of Ideas, both of which passionately advocate the value of preserving the Internet for the public domain and warn of the dangers of giving too much power over innovation to corporations through new copyright extensions and restriction of competition.

Yours truly gets quoted defending Dean's relative silence on IP issues near the end of the story:

Many bloggers who do support Dean believe they understand why it may be in his interest not to come out just now in favor of copyright reform, as candidate Dennis Kucinich, for example, has (also guesting on Lessig's blog). "I was encouraged by Dean's appearance on Lessig's blog, and his stated desire to learn about IP [intellectual property] issues and make an informed decision," Brian Flemming, editor of the political and culture blog Slumdance.com, told the Voice. "I'd love it if he took a stand against the DMCA, the Sonny Bono Act, etc., but I do understand that would be throwing caution to the wind politically, given the power of the media companies. Al Gore had the media against him, and he nearly lost. I'm not anticipating a radical stand from a candidate already pegged as unelectable by some."

This paragraph is most worrisome, however:

The Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America were both major supporters of the DMCA. Dean's list of individual contributors, on the other hand, already includes dozens of Hollywood names, including Warner Bros. president and COO Alan Horn, Disney producer Jeffrey Abrams, Mel Brooks, Norman Lear, and executives at Sony, Universal, 20th Century Fox, HBO, and Showtime. If Dean shapes his messages to please big media, that could be a big blow to the creative commons.

I hope Dean does the right thing on this issue. I'm for gay marriage, but I'm willing to be realistic and accept a candidate who supports only "civil unions" (as Dean does). Similarly, I'm for radical copyright reform as well, but I'm willing to accept a candidate who stands in the middle on the issue. But if Dean starts making statements that indicate a favorable view of the DMCA, or insane life + 70 years copyright terms, or starts using Orwellian buzzwords like "piracy" or "artist's rights," that would be a huge blow. I'd almost certainly have to find another candidate.

I can understand why people want a policy decision from Dean before the primaries. Maybe this article will help nudge the campaign in that direction.

[Full article]

[More recent Howard Dean in the news]

The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World