Ensuring access to copyright protected works

In the age of computer networks, directly sharing useful or interesting materials is often the easiest and best way to spread published information. Only copyright holders want to obstruct this. That is why, just as it becomes more useful for the general public to copy information, copyright holders want to make it harder, and propose Soviet-style measures to prevent it. (The Soviet Union explored a range measures to control unauthorized copying, and the same measures are being proposed now by the United States government on behalf of the publishers.)