Chapter Captain MKG: Overall, I do not think that this segment needs much updating.

I wonder whether we can update the fifth paragraph to make the argument that not only does digital technology rapidly challenge the law's power to protect against digital copying but also norms, fashioned in the era of the physical copy & the analogue device, tend to equate physical possession with their legal scope of use, thereby exacerbating the impact of digital technologies on IP law as it has traditionally stood. Because I bought a copy of a book, I can photocopy it, lend it to a friend etc. Because digital technologies enable simultaneous, faster, anonymous & perfect copying, those acts which I previously took for granted as being 'legal' and which had little or no impact for the copyright owner, are magnified in their potential impact.

I also wonder whether we could/should reference (possibly just by footnote) Ginsburg's argument in her paper "From Having Copies to Experiencing Works: the Development of an Access Right in US Copyright Law" as a specific example of what is discussed in this segment in the sense of cyberspace changing not only the technology of copying but also lending support for an argument for an increased power to protect against it. Ginsburg argues that the very nature of digital technologies requires the development of an access right because otherwise authors have no exclusive right to their writings.

Thoughts/comments anyone?

While I think the mete of Ginsberg's argument is better suited for later parts, I agree that social norms play a large role in "exacerbating the impact of digital technologies on IP law." For example, as a well informed copyright student, I know fairly well what constitutes infringement and what doesn't, and I know my legal liability. Nonetheless, I find it very hard to say no when someone asks to borrow a CD of mine so they can burn a copy, for fear of being ridiculed or labeled the "copyright police." It is also interesting to consider how high the cost is, given the current norms, to move to the perfect price discrimination model that Ginsberg advocates (from "having" to "accessing"). -dpk