Our columnist Rick Falkvinge reports:

These quotes from executive politicians would have been unthinkable a couple of years ago. Amidst economic hardship, the Cabinet in Ireland is seeking to boost digital industries, citing their importance to the economy. This boost is done by reducing the copyright monopoly.

The story in Silicon Republic, published today, outlines how Ireland is mulling a “radical copyright [monopoly] reform”. When you look under the hood, it doesn’t really look all that radical to the monopoly critics and pirates: Ireland is considering adopting “fair use“-type exceptions to the monopoly, and other ways to boost jobs and innovation.

But when you look a bit further under the hood, the shift in attitude is immense. The fair use clauses were always there for noncommercial use; if you went commercial, the monopoly always applied to you. What Ireland is realizing is that the copyright monopoly is hurting business. These quotes would have been absolutely unthinkable just two years ago:

“Some companies have indicated that the current copyright legislation does not cater well for the digital environment and actually creates barriers to innovation and to the establishment of new business models. […] I am determined to respond to these suggestions in a comprehensive and timely manner.”

Read the rest of the story on Rick’s blog