Posted by jordan on September 22, 1999 at 14:53:30:
Copyrights protect art, literature, photography, software, which is
made "tangible". We have extended it to protect broadcast
and live performances, and to protect bits flowing across the web.
What you say aloud is not yet copyrighted. it is set free
in the air as you vocalize. Right?
Consider my new invention called a "Vocalockup":
A recording device worn around the neck which digitizes
and transcribes everything the wearer says
(i.e. it renders speech tangible), but filters out
whatever others say, so as to avoid violating wiretap
laws. It adds high frequency modulation which
"watermarks" "copyright ME 1999" over
the audio signal so that if someone else records it and try to sells
my "oral creative acts", I can assert that I met the standards of
the copyright act. I can also prove I said a thing at some time,
but maybe you can't without a court order!
Initially, the device is used by wealthy writers, celebrities,
and politicians who want to keep their speech from the public domain.
But as the price comes down, it is available to everyone.
Write a 3-4 page doublespaced essay creatively exploring the impact of
the vocalockup in changing the nature of oral communications
in society. Focus, with examples and hypothetical
stories or lawsuits, on your favorite area of society,
be it politics, legal affairs, business, religion, education,
gender relations, or entertainment.