We are here today because some webcasters want the government to intervene into the private marketplace, and order copyright holders to sell them their products at fixed rates. No one cherishes the growth of the web more than this Committee or this member. No one sees the democratizing opportunities of more channels for more content more clearly.
Intellectual property is property just like someone's real property.
Even more important, according to some, because the creativity it unleashes enriches so many lives. Government regulation of intellectual property occurs almost never. In the 1980s the license was extended to the nascent satellite industry so as to set ground rules to protect against unfair duplicative distant network signals. Neither rationale exists for webcasting today. The situation before us today is completely different.