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My 2 cents: Web 2.1

May 02, 2007

For the longest time, the next best thing was social networking tools. Web 2.0 it was branded. Users could participate and contribute to the new web. Wikis, YouTubes, Facebooks, and MySpaces sprung up. Companies started building competing applications all based on this concept.

But have we already entered the Web 2.1 age? It seems the Achilles heel to the new web is, of all things, copyright. Users were encouraged to share whatever they had with the world. Videos got posted. Things were grand. But then (not surprisingly) copyrighted material started getting posted - which angered copyright owners.

YouTube ran into some trouble for hosting TV shows, and now Digg is in trouble for hosting DVD encryption codes. What will all this lead to? I only see two possible outcomes - the death of true copyright protection as we know it, or the death of Web 2.0.

If DRM is any indication, I would say that there is a better chance of copyright laws being changed to reflect the new reality - you can’t sue everyone. This is economy shifting stuff here people. Just recently, I saw on the news that Trekkies are creating their own episodes for download on the web. What if another site copies their episodes - who sues who? Who owns the rights? Doesn’t Paramount have to defend its copyright to be protected by it? Obviously, copyright laws have not kept up technology, and neither have the major media companies.

We’re going to be exploring new territory very soon. Now if only I could create a business model based on sharing copyright…