Techdirt editor Leigh Beadon published a July 18 history roundup collecting the site’s older coverage from the same mid-July stretch in 2016, 2011 and 2006. The post is a link-driven archive, which is the polite way of saying the internet’s recurring policy arguments have a paper trail and it is not flattering.
The roundup, filed under Techdirt’s “history” and “look back” tags, points readers to prior stories about copyright enforcement, platform liability, piracy legislation, ISP policing and Congress discovering social networks as a convenient villain. The details come from Techdirt’s own archived headlines and links.
Copyright and platform fights in 2016
For 2016, Beadon highlighted six Techdirt posts. Several centered on copyright, including coverage of a UK government push for 10-year jail terms for piracy despite Techdirt’s description of piracy falling to record lows, and a disputed DMCA takedown notice involving a post that accused a lawyer of copyright infringement.
The same 2016 section also linked to Techdirt’s coverage of the American Medical Association allegedly making a false copyright claim over a journal article by President Obama, Google releasing another report arguing that it should not be blamed for piracy, and a bill to create a copyright small claims court. Techdirt’s framing of that bill was blunt: it said copyright trolls would like it.
Platforms were in the mix too. Beadon included Techdirt’s 2016 post about Facebook being sued again for allegedly providing “material support” to terrorism because Hamas used the service. That was the liability theory in the headline, as Techdirt described it.
PROTECT IP and enforcement pressure in 2011
The 2011 section focused heavily on copyright enforcement and anti-piracy policy. Beadon linked to Techdirt posts arguing that PROTECT IP would fail because compliance with law depends on cultural acceptance rather than fear of punishment, and that lobbyists were increasing pressure to pass the bill.
Other 2011 entries covered an ISP “five strikes” plan described by Techdirt as following an MPAA and RIAA-style approach, claims that copyright lobbyists were worsening the child pornography problem, YouTube terminating Lady Gaga’s channel over copyright violations, and the tangled status of H.P. Lovecraft’s copyrights.
RIAA pressure and MySpace panic in 2006
The 2006 archive entries show the same machinery running on older parts. Beadon included Techdirt posts about a patent holder arguing that the bad actors were those who refused to pay, the recording industry asking ISPs to cut off file sharers, and an entertainment trade publication saying Congress should not protect Hollywood.
The 2006 list also included Congress blaming MySpace for troubled children, Techdirt asking how long the RIAA would be allowed to misuse the legal system, and newspapers adopting an internet strategy that Techdirt characterized as more of the same.
Beadon’s roundup does not add new reporting to those older stories. It functions as a map back through Techdirt’s archives, with copyright maximalism, platform blame and intermediary pressure showing up across three different snapshots: 2006, 2011 and 2016.
This story draws on original reporting from Techdirt.
