Nesson on IPHacktivism

Donna writes (from her new perch at the EFF, though, in her words, "I speak for myself, here, and not for the Berkman Center, EFF or Corante. So if you want to enter a dialogue, be aware that you're entering it with me.") about Charles Nesson's joinder of the IP protection, hacking (in the older sense of using a tool in a way unintended by its designers) and activism. Hacking and activism have existed as a joint meme for a while, but the new meme iphacktivism (pronounced as if you are hiccupping the first two syllables, like 'yipaktivism' without the y) is also now taking on a life of its own (0 results on Google [disclaimer: I work there], 0 on AllTheWeb and 0 on Feedster). Not sure myself if protecting property is activism, but given the very political nature of the RIAA's actions to protect the property owned by their member companies and the EFF's political response, I guess it might be.

Professor Nesson often proposes iphacktivism (though that's not what he calls it) as a reaction to the current music IP mess or Professor Fisher's plan, but when I got the chance to moderate a panel of Berkman luminaries in July, I tried to force him to propose it as a positive platform, to which Professor Fisher and Professor Zittrain could then react. The results are now up in a transcript at HLSNet.

Update: Copyfighter Derek Slater writes: Raise Your Hand If You Think DoS Attacks Are Good.