I just finished listening to [Sound Policy with Denise Howell][1] from [IT Conversations][2] where the subject was Google’s Autolink feature on the latest edition of the [Google Toolbar][3]. I was shocked by the behavior of the [EFF’s Cory Doctorow][4]. He was rude to the other speakers, continually interrupting and shouting them down. He was disrespectful of the opposing point of view, labeling their concerns as “silly.” He was ineffective in promoting his own point of view in favor of Autolink, continually–and **loudly**–espousing wildly inaccurate and inappropriate analogies and examples.
But worst of all, Doctorow seems to be publicly advocating a position which, if it’s official EFF policy, may make everyone want to seriously reconsider their support for the EFF. I thought that the mission of the EFF was, at least in part, to restore the balance to copyright law which the entertainment cartel has stacked in their favor. But Doctorow seems to feel that there should be no copyright law at all, repeatedly stating that web authors have “no right” to have integrity of their work respected. Well, if the EFF “doesn’t give a shit”–to use Doctorow’s words–about the rights of authors, then I no longer give a shit about the EFF.
[1]: http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail438.html
[2]: http://www.itconversations.com/
[3]: http://toolbar.google.com/T3/
[4]: http://www.eff.org/about/staff/#cory_doctorow
**Update:** I should mention that prior to listening to this podcast, I was on the fence regarding Autolink. On the one hand, I can sympathize with the desire of authors not wanting to have the meaning–as opposed to the formatting–of their work altered by a third-party without their permission. On the other hand, Autolink does seem to be beneficial to the user under certain circumstances. For example, nothing irritates me more than to read an article on CNET describing some new company/product/service, but CNET refuses to provide any external links to the subject of the article in the mistaken belief that they can keep me trapped on their site in order to flash more ads at me. Wrong. They are just (A) pissing me off, and (B) forcing me to look it up the old-fashioned way. (BTW, I realize that the current incarnation of Autolink won’t “fix” this “problem” either.)
Cory Doctorow’s near-hysterical ranting certainly helped me make up my mind… I’m now firmly **opposed** to Autolink and anything like it. Hence, Doctorow’s ineffectiveness as an advocate in favor of Autolink.
By the way, there is another solution to the “problem” that Autolink is trying to address, but it’s getting late so I’ll write about it separately, probably tomorrow.