The point is, our ability to broadcast was...

The point is, our ability to broadcast was entirely dependent on poorly-programmed bots. And once those bots had made their incorrect decision, there was absolutely nothing we could do to restart the signal, as it were. In case anyone still believes that copyright rules can’t stop free speech or snuff out a community, the automated censorship of the Hugo Awards is a case in point. Robots killed our legitimate broadcast. Welcome to the present.

How copyright enforcement robots killed the Hugo Awards (via iamdanw)

This is going to happen more and more, and we’re going to need to start considering this when we create laws.

For example - copyright law often comes down to a fair use or fair dealing issue, meaning a situation when legality needs to be determined by informed human judgment, rather than a hard binary of acceptable / unacceptable. In an increasingly digital, automated world, it’s hard to see how this is still a reasonable assumption for law.

We’re likely going to need to start defining things more clearly. A judge might know the difference between obscenity and art, or quotation vs plagiarism; software doesn’t deal well with nuance, and software is becoming the real gatekeeper in these situations.