On the news that the French Assembly finally rammed through a “three strikes” rule for the French Internet (if you’re accused of infringement three times, you lose the right to access the Internet), Princeton prof Ed Felten has proposed that this should be extended to other media, like print.
My proposed system is simplicity itself. The government sets up a registry of accused infringers. Anybody can send a complaint to the registry, asserting that someone is infringing their copyright in the print medium. If the government registry receives three complaints about a person, that person is banned for a year from using print.
As in the Internet case, the ban applies to both reading and writing, and to all uses of print, including informal ones. In short, a banned person may not write or read anything for a year…
Next on the list: three-strikes systems for sound waves, and light waves. These media are too important to leave unprotected.
I like it, but I have to admit to being sentimental about my proposal (stolen from Kevin Marks) to cut corporations off the Internet if they send out three false copyright accusations.