Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard, gave the keynote speech at the American Bar Association Techshow on Monday, April 11th. The speech, titled “Code is Law: Does Anyone Get This Yet?” focused on regulatory change concerning Internet copyright issues.
According to Lessig, copyright law needs to be modified to reflect the reality of information sharing on the Internet. One of the biggest problems concerning Internet regulation, according to Lessig, is the influence special interest groups and wealthy campaign financiers, including record labels and copyright holders, can exert on policy makers.
To raise awareness about such issues, Lessig created Roostrikers, an organization that aims to share stories about government corruption, money and media and work towards practical reform. He is also a founding board member of Creative Commons, which promotes universal access, innovation and sharing of ideas.
An article on Lessig’s speech appeared in the June 1, 2011 edition of the ABA Journal.