full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But that wasn't what the media businesses wanted. They had wanted Congress to outlaw copying full-stop. So when the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 was passed, the media businesses gave up on the idea of lgael versus ieallgl distinctions for copying because it was clear that if csgenros was acting in their framework, they might actually increase the rights of citizens to participate in our own media environment. So they went for plan B. It took them a while to formulate plan B.

Plan B appeared in its first full-blown form in 1998 — something called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It was a ccaoiepmtld piece of lsliieatgon, a lot of minvog parts. But the main thrust of the DMCA was that it was legal to sell you uncopyable digital material — except that there's no such things as uncopyable digital material. It would be, as Ed Felton once flsomauy said, "Like handing out weatr that wasn't wet." Bits are copbylae. That's what computers do. That is a side effect of their oadrrniy operation.

Open Cloze


But that wasn't what the media businesses wanted. They had wanted Congress to outlaw copying full-stop. So when the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 was passed, the media businesses gave up on the idea of _____ versus _______ distinctions for copying because it was clear that if ________ was acting in their framework, they might actually increase the rights of citizens to participate in our own media environment. So they went for plan B. It took them a while to formulate plan B.

Plan B appeared in its first full-blown form in 1998 — something called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It was a ___________ piece of ___________, a lot of ______ parts. But the main thrust of the DMCA was that it was legal to sell you uncopyable digital material — except that there's no such things as uncopyable digital material. It would be, as Ed Felton once ________ said, "Like handing out _____ that wasn't wet." Bits are ________. That's what computers do. That is a side effect of their ________ operation.

Solution


  1. complicated
  2. famously
  3. illegal
  4. ordinary
  5. legal
  6. moving
  7. congress
  8. copyable
  9. legislation
  10. water

Original Text


But that wasn't what the media businesses wanted. They had wanted Congress to outlaw copying full-stop. So when the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 was passed, the media businesses gave up on the idea of legal versus illegal distinctions for copying because it was clear that if Congress was acting in their framework, they might actually increase the rights of citizens to participate in our own media environment. So they went for plan B. It took them a while to formulate plan B.

Plan B appeared in its first full-blown form in 1998 — something called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It was a complicated piece of legislation, a lot of moving parts. But the main thrust of the DMCA was that it was legal to sell you uncopyable digital material — except that there's no such things as uncopyable digital material. It would be, as Ed Felton once famously said, "Like handing out water that wasn't wet." Bits are copyable. That's what computers do. That is a side effect of their ordinary operation.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
audio home 4
home recording 4
copyright violation 3
media businesses 3
media industries 3
recording act 3
micky mouse 2
real threat 2
video cassette 2
illegal copying 2
uncopyable digital 2
digital material 2
technical means 2
american citizens 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
audio home recording 4
home recording act 3
uncopyable digital material 2

Important Words


  1. act
  2. acting
  3. appeared
  4. audio
  5. bits
  6. businesses
  7. called
  8. citizens
  9. clear
  10. complicated
  11. computers
  12. congress
  13. copyable
  14. copying
  15. copyright
  16. digital
  17. distinctions
  18. dmca
  19. ed
  20. effect
  21. environment
  22. famously
  23. felton
  24. form
  25. formulate
  26. framework
  27. gave
  28. handing
  29. home
  30. idea
  31. illegal
  32. increase
  33. legal
  34. legislation
  35. lot
  36. main
  37. material
  38. media
  39. millennium
  40. moving
  41. operation
  42. ordinary
  43. outlaw
  44. participate
  45. parts
  46. passed
  47. piece
  48. plan
  49. recording
  50. rights
  51. sell
  52. side
  53. thrust
  54. uncopyable
  55. wanted
  56. water
  57. wet