With which one of the following claims about documents placed on Web pages would the author be most likely to agree?

sarahxxkesler on May 6, 2018

I also chose the answer B and would like to know why answer E is correct.

Christopher on May 7, 2018

It hinges on the final line of the article in which the author argues that changing copyright law to benefit the owners of intellectual property would be ill-advised because it would hinder the progress of the internet as a public forum dedicated to the free exchange of ideas. In other words, the author believes that the main purpose of the internet is to allow for free and open intellectual debate and exchange. Therefore E lines up most completely with the author's point of view. Does that help?

To1M1ar on December 10, 2018

@christopher but the penultimate line says "such a solution would compromise the openness of the web somewhat, BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THE THREAT OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT LITIGATION" Furthermore the last sentence states "changing copyright law... is thus I'll advised..." Wouldn't this all line up with answer B?

Ravi on December 12, 2018

@nishkrish, @sarahxxkesler, and @To1M1ar: Answer choice B is tricky, but the key word in the passage that allows us to eliminate it is the term "somewhat," which is used by the autor in line 50. The author gives an example of a mechanism (password protection) to limit unauthorized distribution of the document. The author concedes that this solution "would compromise the openness of the Web somewhat."

When we read B, it says that such documents cannot be protected from unauthorized distribution without SIGNIFICANTLY diminishing the potential of the Web to be a widely used form of communication. The author would not be likely to agree with this because in the passage the author provides one example (password protection) of a way where unauthorized distribution of documents online could be mitigated. Compromising the openness of the web "somewhat" (which is what the author says) is much milder than what B says in SIGNIFICANTLY diminishing the potential of the web as an open form of communication.

Answer E is the one the author would most likely agree with. It is fully congruent with the author's position, and it's a very mild statement. It's saying that in order for documents to fully contribute to the Web, their authors must allow free access. The author of the passage concedes that even with restrictions such as password protection that there will be a somewhat of a reduction to the openness of the Web.

To1M1ar on December 13, 2018

That was excellent, thank you Rave.

Ravi on December 16, 2018

Happy to help, @To1m1ar! Please let me know if you have other questions.