New Zealand should be protected from US law and politics which are tainted by commercial special interests, says Harvard University law professor Lawrence Lessig.
Delivering a keynote address to the NetHui in Auckland last Friday, Stephen Bell reports that copyright activist Lessig skilfully combined his new interest in combatting alleged corruption in the US lawmaking system with arguments for copyright reform which he knew would appeal particularly to his New Zealand audience in the wake of the much criticised Copyright (Infringing File-Sharing) Act.
Beginning with French 18th-century political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville’s evaluation of the US Constitution as being based on a “general equality of condition” among the people, Lessig went on to argue that “netizens”, the citizens of the internet, seek to put this equality into practice. The net is a great leveller, making it easier for everyone to engage with anyone, regardless of “wealth, status and connections”.
Bell's full report at ComputerWorld
Professor Lessig's address at Nethui on YouTube
Lessig: Part 2
Pacific Media Centre
