Together in electric dreams: cyber socialism, utopia and the creative commons
by Michael Filby
International Journal of Private Law (IJPL), Vol. 1, No. 1/2, 2008

Abstract: As the internet has become ever more prolific and intrinsic to modern society, so it has attracted the attention of the regulators of the world. As domestic and international legislatures apply increasingly restrictive rules, this paper asks if they have considered the ramifications of limiting the natural evolution of the internet. By taking a normative view of the internet and the behaviour of its users, the concept of cyber socialism as applied to the file sharing of Intellectual Property (IP) is evaluated in terms of viability and value. As the internet has evolved from a total state of cyber-nature, the continuing success of self-regulation recognises that the internet must always be treated as an addition to the real world running in parallel to its practices as opposed to an entirely separate entity. Regulators should be taking heed of the capabilities of the internet to run without unnecessary impediments while simultaneously allowing real world practices to flourish, and should therefore be following the example of the Creative Commons to robustly protect the interests of IP rights holders without impairing the strengths of the internet rather than falling prey to undue influence exerted by the creative industries and their outmoded business models.

Online publication date: Fri, 11-Jul-2008

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