Aneesh Chopra: We don't want to control the Internet Video

Aneesh Chopra: We don't want to control the Internet Video Transcript

[ MUSIC ] ^M00:00:08

>> So we have a couple of questions that are generally and specifically from our users. The meat and potatoes of our audience issues. One of them, this has been of, sort of huge concern to our audience specifically. Joe Biden, the vice president, has a very pro-RIAA voting record. There are obviously some key RIAA attorneys now in Justice Department posts. Do you think the, that that has, in two questions really, has that estranged the administration at all from kind of this progressive net roots technology circle that you are now running in? And then also what's your position on amending the DMCA to specifically allow fair use, like legally copying a DVD for backup?

>> Great questions. I have not provided any formal advice on the DMCA question, so I'll begin by, by that piece. On the broader notion of the voices in the administration that have come to the table, I think one of the things the president has done very well is ensure that we have excellence in the administration. He's put in place a number of key positions. Now we all have different views from where we've come from. And as issues come before the president, what he has asked us to do is to work through those issues to find common ground. I fully envision that we would engra -- embrace those issues as they, as they come up. I would say on the issue of where we are on intellectual property rights, what are we doing with respect to the openness of the internet, we must take into consideration the following key principles: a great deal of our economic success has come from the fact that those who retain intellectual property rights because we've opened up so many trade markets globally have delivered extraordinary returns to the American economy. And we honor that and celebrate that, and that's a key part of our economic success. At the same time we understand that in technology, the ability to mash up different pieces and parts to create new value has been another key pillar of growth. So you've identified, rightly so, what are the areas that will call, call that into, into tension. As those policies come before us we'll weigh in. But as of now we'd have no explicit statement on, on DMCA and no position that, that I'd, that I'm in a position to share.

>> Yeah, I mean the, the DMCA is, it's been around since '98, and you, you, you folks have other things on your plate right now I've heard. But in general are the current U.S. copyright laws sufficient, or should they be tightened more? Should they be relaxed more? Do you have any thoughts?

>> Well, I might lift it up more broadly to think about patents and patent reform. The president has been absolutely clear that we need to have patent reform. One that balances these tensions. You know, we've got basically two theories of the case: those that are essentially as I just alluded to supportive of a more broad interpretation and those that are a little bit more focused on protecting that which has been a key pillar of our economy. President's called for an effective and efficient patent system. He's named Dave Kappos to the head of the USPTO, a man I have a great deal of respect for, and is grappling with these issues as we speak. I engage with Dave on the policy issues that are, that are here, and I'm confident we'll have a program in patent reform that will be effective and one that we'll celebrate when we roll it out.

>> So that's patents, copyright law --

>> I know, I was lifting up --

>> Good, bad, evil --

>> I was lifting up --

>> I know, continuing to extend the life of copyright more and more and more [laughter] --

>> You like it, you hate it, you want to tweak it a little bit?

>> I don't have any particular view with respect to what we do with copyright. I know exactly what you're describing. I would say this: the -- if you look at my track record, I embraced the Creative Commons licensing regime in Virginia. We supported a piece of legislation that explicitly called on the governor's office to declare what our policies would be with respect to Creative Commons. When we published the physics Flexbook, we did so in a Creative Commons licensing regime. So I'm, I've got a track record here that, that speaks a little bit more towards at least some aspect of how we allow for the sharing and reusability of intellectual property. So to the extent that I have a view, it largely is informed by that experience. ^M00:04:19 [ MUSIC ]