Why should web technologists care about intellectual property? This paper includes a general overview of intellectual property law, analyzes the impact on the web community, and provides evidence that web technology has important implications with respect to copyright issues. Based on the finding that web technology undermines the protection of intellectual property law, we encourage increased activism on the part of web technology designers with respect to taking over the role of legislators in shaping the framework for creative work. It is our conclusion that web technology must better support the revenue of authors and the creation of derivative work.
