Could open source exist without the Betamax case?

The recording industry’s legal claim that users cannot even copy CDs they have bought envisions a world where the Betamax decision does not exist.

The 1984 Betamax case, technically called Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., held that individuals have a legal right to copies of content. Without it the VCR would have been illegal, and so would Internet caching.

What is important to realize, however, is that all the rights users assume to have regarding technology and content are based on a mere legal interpretation, a 5-4 Supreme Court decision subject to being overturned at a motion’s notice.

While it is true the industry is not really suing people for putting CDs on their iPods, the controversy offers us the chance to consider again how fragile our rights are in a digital age, and how best to protect them.

Advocates of Internet values, on which open source is based, like to note that the Internet is a worldwide network, and it is easy to route around adverse legal decisions.

But if the content industry, or the software industry, or the telecommunications industry, had the power of the state behind their attempts to coerce compliance with their demands, this would be a very different technology world.

The hammering the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took at the hands of bloggers and users over this is a great New Year’s present. It reminds me that as it was in the 18th century, so it remains in the 21st. Freedom can only exist where we demand it exist. It is not given, it is taken.

If this week’s brave words are matched to brave actions, Internet freedom will continue to march forward in 2008.

The best protection open source has is the community’s belief in it.

This article was originally a blog post on ZDNet.com.