The Future of Innovation

Jason Schultz of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) faced off with Stan Pierre-Louis of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Tuesday to debate the Future of Innovation at an event sponsored by Harvard's Journal of Law & Technology. The two sides sparked over the Grokster lawsuit, the INDUCE Act, and precedent in copyright law. In the course of the debate, two visions of the digital media future emerged. In the Schultz-EFF view, disruptive innovation causes technological progress, and society gradually adapts. In the Pierre-Louis-RIAA view, artists (and distributors) must stay vigilant to fight off threats that new technology poses to copyright protections.