The Well, an early online community, had a saying “you own your own words.”
What you say online may come back to haunt you, so think twice before posting something controversial.
Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio learned that lesson on November 16, when the Republican Study Committee (RSC), which he chairs, published “The Three Myths of Copyright,” a well reasoned critique of the copyright and patent systems and their impact on the economy.
The critique was consistent with Jordan’s view of the government and free enterprise, but it disappeared from his Web site soon after it was published.
But, Lauren Weinstein had made a copy of the RSC document and published it on his excellent blog. Note that he has marked it as “withdrawn,” since it is no longer on Jordan’s Web site.
Jordan has learned a lesson about Internet publication – you own your own words and they are difficult to erase.
And we citizens have gotten another look at the morality of politics and the rapidity with which principle and reason can be set aside.
PowerPoint presentation for teaching
Addenda
12/7/2012
The Republican Study Committee, a caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives, has told staffer Derek Khanna that he will be out of a job when Congress re-convenes in January. The incoming chairman of the RSC, Steve Scalise (R-LA) was approached by several Republican members of Congress who were upset about a memo Khanna wrote advocating reform of copyright law. They asked that Khanna not be retained, and Scalise agreed to their request.
1/11/2013
ARS Technica interview of Derek Khanna, who was fired.
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