The former landmark legislation in copyright law was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which became effective in 1998. And as important as the DMCA has been for the development of the internet, the wheels are in motion for the passage of a new generation of copyright law.
What this means is that the time to have a conversation about what the future of American copyright law should look like is right now. There are powerful forces who want a more powerful regime of controlling information on the internet, such as creating a “notice and staydown” regime to replace the DMCA’s “notice and takedown” provisions. But in a world with internet, it is time to start thinking with a different set of tools than the old copyright adages which led to the development of the powerful industries of today.
Change is afoot, and it is vital that we adapt our legislation to take full advantage, rather than merely to safeguard old industries who may be displaced by that change.
The Machine Ethic 
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