Those wacky libertarians

Yesterday, the Cato Institute held a conference on Law and Economics of File Sharing & P2P Networks. According to Digital Music News, this was "one of the best [conferences] in digital music this year," so it might be worthwhile checking out the webcast.

Cato's Adam Thierer suggests forgoing copyright legislation for judicial resolution of copyright claims:On Drawing Lines in Copyright Law

But how we call in the cops and who the IP cops are makes a big difference. In particular, we shouldn't expect Congress or regulatory agencies to legislate on every problem that creeps up or ban or mandate specific technological solutions in an attempt to solve IP debates. But when certain parties are egregiously violating the rights of copyright holders, they are certainly justified in seeking redress in the courts. Common law resolution to copyright disputes has the advantage of avoiding a hasty, ham-handed legislative quick fix. As has been the case throughout most of copyright's history, courts can sort through rival claims to determine where the creators' concerns have merit and where the rights of consumers should instead carry the day