What is Hatch's Hit List? Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has introduced the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (IICA, née INDUCE Act) in the Senate. The bill would make it illegal to "intentionally induce" copyright infringement, but is worded so broadly that it would have all sorts of unintended consequences, one of which is to severely limit, cripple or kill innovation in many different fields. Hatch's Hit List is a daily exploration of some of the technologies and fields that the bill would likely affect. See also, Introducing Hatch's Hit List and the Hatch's Hit List Archives. Send list suggestions to ernest.miller 8T aya.yale.edu.

Today on Hatch's Hit List: Deepnet Explorer
Tip o' the hat to John Parres

From the Deepnet Explorer homepage:

Deepnet Explorer is the world’s first browser to offer fully integrated P2P file sharing capabilities and a built-in RSS/ATOM news reader. With features like tabbed browsing, pop blocking, auto login, form filler and P2P technology, Deepnet Explorer is the quick and easy way to browse the web, share files and read news simultaneously!

If enough browsers had built-in P2P, then many websites would be able to effectively offload much of their bandwidth needs. Rather than linking to the file with HTTP, they would link to the file with a bandwidth-sharing P2P protocol. Which protocol? Wouldn't really matter, actually. Heck, maybe the link would be to a hash that the browser would use to launch a search for the appropriate file via several protocols. Makes a lot of sense for certain types of legitimate distribution actually.

Unfortunately, it also makes a lot of sense for certain types of unauthorized distribution as well. That's the real problem with the INDUCE Act. Building a browser with built in capability for P2P makes a lot of sense for many legitimate purposes, just as building a browser in the first place made a lot of sense. Unfortunately, the copyright industry isn't going to like these new purposes since they'll make certain types of infringement easier, just like the original browser made certain types of infringement easier.

In the early days of the internet, people would upload MP3s to their homepages. People would use MP3 search engines to find the links. Turns out it was relatively easy to shut down these early filesharers, although the copyright industry was initially panicked. If the INDUCE Act had been in force back then, would it now be illegal to build homepages without explicit authorization? Or to use a browser that didn't recognize a mandated encrypted handshake for connection to authorized webpages only? After all, if you can connect to any IP address, you might connect to one that ignores copyright law, just as some people might use P2P to download unauthorized copyrighted files.

Want to know more about the INDUCE Act?
Please see LawMeme's well-organized index to everything I've written on the topic, including Hatch's Hit List: The LawMeme Reader's Guide to Ernie Miller's Guide to the INDUCE Act.