Public Knowledge Presents First IP3 Awards To Boucher, Danger Mouse, Kahle
Public Knowledge Presents First IP3 Awards To Boucher, Danger Mouse, Kahle
Public Knowledge Presents First IP3 Awards To Boucher, Danger Mouse, Kahle

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    Public Knowledge President Gigi B. Sohn announced today that Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), entertainer Danger Mouse and computing pioneer Brewster Kahle are the first recipients of the organization’s IP3 award. Awards are given to individuals who over the past year (or over the course of their careers) who have advanced the public interest in one of the three areas of “IP” – Intellectual Property, Information Policy and the Internet Protocol. The awards will be presented Oct. 14 in Washington, D.C.

    Boucher was chosen because of his outstanding record as an advocate on Capitol Hill for balance in our copyright law in an era where large corporate copyright interests increasingly call for expanded rights. He has led the fight to preserve fair use rights and has been an exemplary champion for consumers and their rights to use digital media. His sponsorship of the Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act is only the latest of his efforts. Boucher is a founding member of the Congressional Internet Caucus, one of the most tech-savvy members of Congress and a true leader intellectual property issues.

    Danger Mouse, with a sequencer, a sampler, and commercial CDs from Jay-Z and the Beatles, has demonstrated that truly original creative work can be built on top of the creative work of others. His album, the Grey Album, which is crafted from the substance of Jay-Z’s the Black Album and the Beatles’ White Album, has demonstrated that digital tools in the hands of creative people can often generate surprising new original work. Of the resulting tension this creates between some musicians and some copyright holders, Danger Mouse has said, “It's up to corporations, businesses, society or whatever to adjust to what's going on with people, not the other way around.”

    Kahle is one of the pioneers of the concept of helping computers and microprocessors work collectively. But these days he is best known as the founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive, which was founded in 1996 to offer permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars and the general public to Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Kahle has said his goal is nothing less than to provide “universal access to all human knowledge.” One of the Archive’s newest projects is Bookmobile, a mobile digital library, complete with satellite dish, which travels across the country bringing the ability to access, download, and print one of the almost 20,000 public domain books currently available online.

    Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.