I'm back from Aspen now, missing the beauty of Colorado but enjoying the oxygen available at sea level. There's so much one could write about, but I'd like to focus in this entry on our Chairman's Dinner speech featuring Viacom and CBS Corp. Executive Chairman Sumner Redstone. (A stream of his speech is available online.) It was a very impressive speech, and it's not just me saying that -- a leading expert in telecom sitting next to me at the dinner said it may have been the highlight of the conference, a big statement given this individual doesn't work much in intellectual property. A techie who is scarred from the Napster-Grokster wars said that if the wisdom Sumner offered had been put forward then, much of the conflict may have been avoided. I think that's a bit unfair, but it's nice to see the speech appreciated from erstwhile opponents. It's important to me because it seems that Sumner's speech in many ways challenged IPcentral on its more reasonable days.

For one, I liked that Sumner focused on the importance of artists in the debate:

Copyright compels creativity by making it an economically viable career choice for artists.

Let me assure you that the boy jamming to his air guitar in his poster-plastered bedroom does not dream of being the next nobody on the Internet.

The aspiring great American novelist does not aspire to self-publish.

And the young filmmaker, posting his videos on YouTube, is hoping for better things. He wants to be the next Steven Spielberg… with all the exposure and celebrity and cash riches that entails.

Cash is a fact that can't be ignored, Sumner said, using a twist on an old saw about marriage:

Propose to a dairy farmer that the milk he sells become a free commodity available to all, and he will stop cultivating cows. Why buy the cow, when consumers can get the milk for free? That was the music industry a mere 3 years ago.

He also showed an understanding of the current debate, by citing the Long Tail, a favorite of this blog even if we don't always see it as the end-all that its biggest proponent does. Here's Sumner again, after mentioning how the Long Tail is a manifestation of the digital age making it easier for consumers to access niche content:

This interesting idea is detailed in a book called “The Long Tail” written by Chris Anderson of Wired magazine, who, it should be noted, did not write it to defend copyright.

And yet copyright defends him.

This of course is a critical distinction that critics don’t ever seem to draw when they call for the death of copyright or the expansion of the public domain. Ideas cannot be copyrighted… only the exact expression of those ideas. In fact, Chris Anderson wrote his book because he was hoping that someone like me would pick it up and his idea would become part of the intellectual debate. That said, I am sure he would be unhappy if we all copied his book for free or I quoted it verbatim without acknowledgement.

We've been bullish here about how the best is yet to come, that copyright issues are difficult, but that if we all let the market evolve in an environment where copyright is respected, everyone will win. Here's Sumner:

[T]he system we have created to protect copyrighted content is not perfect.

Encryption methods are cumbersome and will likely never be 100% secure.

Enforcement efforts such as suing copyright infringers have limited impact and risk alienating legitimate consumers.

Filtering and watermarking require the cooperation of distribution intermediaries and raise privacy concerns.

And our critics are vocal and gaining traction in the policy debate, particularly overseas.

But, we’re in a better place than we were last year… and last year, we were in a better place than the year before. Many, many bright minds across the media, consumer electronics, ISP, and regulatory arenas have collectively devoted hundreds of thousands of hours to devising the right solution to these thorny issue.

And then he chose not to lecture, but to urge cooperation under a "digital manifesto":

First, let us declare that we are all digital companies... Second, let us all pledge to experiment... Third, Let us all reiterate our respect for the consumer... And, finally, let us all press our point of view that the proper role for government is to foster a free market in innovative, creative expression.

Thank you, Sumner, for articulating a mission for those choosing to be under the Big Tent.