"The law must be able to advance at the pace of technology"

Piracy is a very serious problem, regardless of where it takes place. It is a perverse problem that causes enormous damage to the legitimate copyright holders, whether they be in the United States or in Spain. It is growing to epidemic proportions, and all countries have a great interest in watching over the fulfilment of the laws that protect the holders of those rights - and an obligation too. My country was founded on a culture that encouraged and inspired creativity and innovation, and I think this laid down the bases of the growth which the world enjoys today on the Internet, which, as is well known, was developed by the United States. It is understandable that people may not want to pay for things they may obtain for free, but this is the foundation of trade after all! Nobody would agree to a person going into a shop and stealing a clothing item just because he or she does not want to pay for it. In addition, not paying for the property of others freezes creativity. I am convinced that people shall continue to develop new models and technologies in this era. Similarly, it is very important at this point to provide incentives that will nourish creativity and growth. Well? [she thinks it over for an instant] sharing with a friend the music we like best is a good thing. When we used to do this in the old way, we kept the control of the original that we had bought. But now, when talking of cyberspace, we are not really sharing anything with a friend; it is more like stealing it and making copies of it. So very many copies are made, and at such speed, that enormous harm is finally made to the owners of the copyright. All these people that would otherwise have gone to the shop to buy the record are now obtaining it for free, without paying a dime. So I do think that it is more like stealing. It is obvious that you will never be able to go after each and everyone of them, just as you cannot chase up all thieves: shoplifting will continue to take place in the same way as content will continue to be downloaded illegally on the Internet. The problem is that piracy today is being taken to a new level. I mean that intellectual property is becoming a new bargaining chip within organised crime, and even among terrorist organisations, due to the great financial margin it offers and the minimum risk it entails. Governments such as the United States' and Spain's are already studying the damage that this problem is causing not just to the owners of the rights, but also to all citizens, given the taxes that are not collected due to this phenomenon. There has to be a proportionate response to these activities and I think that governments are already realising of this. These laws were created at a time in which the world was certainly very different, but I am convinced that many of them are sufficiently flexible as to adapt to changes. Do they cover everything? Obviously not. But the law must be able to advance at the pace of technology and to develop new laws or adapt those already existing. You will no doubt be aware, for instance, that in 1998 the American Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a text specially thought out for the protection of intellectual property on the Internet, both for authors and users, and for the last ten years it has been working with interest and some scepticism. As you said, today you can easily download a film: it only takes fifteen minutes if your connection speed is fast enough! Well, this law envisages that if anyone proves that his or her copyright is being violated on the web, notice can be passed to the Internet server to retire it without any need of a legal intervention. I hope, in summary, that legislators will be able to find the balance between the protection of the interests of the owners of rights, and the advancement of art and science, thus preserving the cultural environment that we value so much. No. You must realise that I was young a long time ago! [she smiles] Is it anything like YouTube? I was asking you this because, if the Internet managed to do away with frontiers - with the legal implications that this has -, Second Life has created a virtual world in which the creations sold there are virtual. Do you think that it is possible to apply the laws of real countries to virtual countries? Or will there have to be virtual courts to apply a law that is... virtual? My speciality is the traditional laws and I think that they have to be applied in order to attain their objectives, and in this particular case, to protect the owners of rights. For instance, I mentioned earlier the Digital Millennium Copy Act. If a presumed infringer, when faced with the order of withdrawing the content because of a violation of the copyright, decides to appeal, he will have to do so under the jurisdiction of the corresponding Federal Courts, a move that takes the lawsuit away from the virtual world and brings it into the real. A time may come in which there may be laws able to deal with the problems involved in crossing borders - in fact, there are already some, as governments are pursuing transfrontier criminal actions -, but I think sufficient elasticity exists in the present laws so that, with slight modifications, they may be able to deal with these problems. I am an enthusiast of knowledge in general and if only because of this, my answer is yes. But the thing is that in addition there are laws that make this into something more important. The thing is that when you publish content that may be in breach of copyright, you run the risk that the content may be withdrawn that and of having problems with the law. So there is certainly an obligation or need to be attentive up to this level. In addition, we in the States have an aphorism that says that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Well, even though all these changes are taking place after my generation, they are very exciting for me. All that is taking place in the digital and virtual worlds is changing the economy of countries. The United States' Gross Domestic Product is today based on the intellectual property, part on digital technology, part on science, on patents or on the creation of brands. And I could not possibly think of the world today without the Internet... even not knowing anything about Second Life! I think there is no going back now. We can only move forward. Of course. The first Court I worked in did not have any computers, not even one. When the first computer arrived, I felt terrorised. And it wasn't just me - no one there dared use it! At the beginning I adopted it as a kind of pet, and would smile to it, dust it... but wouldn't touch it! It was not until 1996 that I started to use it to send e-mails. Today, I adore it. I couldn't live without my Blackberry or my Palm, my three laptops or the Internet. Everything is very helpful during trials. For instance, if a counsel makes a reference to a specific case, I can look it up immediately. And if I think that someone in the courtroom is potentially dangerous, I can send an instant e-mail of alert. I think there is no going back now. We can only move forward. The Internet makes us more efficient. Yes, I am very confident. There are young people with enormous talent that are at this moment thinking of things that we wouldn't have even dreamt of twenty years ago, and I am quite sure that these thoughts will continue to shake the world we live in and that they will improve the standards of life of all through technology.