Lessig on censorship and software battles

FSF's Lawrence Lessig talks about Internet censorship

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In 2003, several governments around the world proposed an international administration of the Internet, like the United Nations or the European Union. Do you think the U.S. government will ever allow that to happen?

At some point, the U.S. has no choice, at least if other countries work hard to push it.

The CD's days are numbered. Does the success of YouTube allows us to think that the next victims of the Internet will be the DVD and the Hollywood business model?

I don't think the business model of selling content is going to end soon. I think some forms will shift -- music, for example. But it makes no sense to store everything you want to watch on a hard disk, and until broadband is persistent and ubiquitous, plastic [DVDs] will be plentiful.

Microsoft has recently claimed in Fortune magazine that free software like Linux, OpenOffice and some e-mail programs violate 235 of its patents. But Microsoft also said it won't sue them, for now. Is this the start of a new legal nightmare?

Yes. It has been clear for years that Microsoft's end game is to use patents to re-leverage control over the operating system market. The coming battle will be long and bloody.

You are deeply involved in the Creative Commons. How's this initiative going?

Extremely well. We have projects in more than 70 countries around the world, and have launched licenses in more than 36. More than 100 million objects are licensed under CC licenses, and the project continues to grow in areas of education and science. It has been a very surprising success.

On June 2006, at the end of iSummit in Rio de Janeiro, organizers announced two documents, a Declaration on Open Access and a Declaration on Digital Rights Management. What's the importance of both?

The importance in my view is just signaling the values of the international community organized around iCommons. These two principles were simple and clear.

I've heard that as the Grand Finale of the summit, you were thrown into a pool. Is it true? How was that experience?

Unfortunately, it seems to be a yearly ritual. I'm hoping there's no pool in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where iSummit 2007 will happen next week, between June 15 and 17.