A little something about you.
If you're a fellow digger, then I owe you a debt of gratitude. You see I am someone who does not appreciate the way Intellectual Property has been contorted by the entertainment industry giants the RIAA and the MPAA. These are the main proponents of stronger Intellectual Property laws as well as the plaintiffs in many cases against their very own customer base. These and others are pushing governments all over the world to adopt a more strict sense of Intellectual Property Laws (like patents, and copyrights) and sadly it seems they are winning. They want to criminalize it, and extend it's broad reach.
And then there is you. By commenting and posting things that you write into dig you expose things to the public domain. Don't believe me ? Read the bottom of diggs pages and you will see that all the hard work is clearly dedicated to the public domain. I understand that If I find an image or a song Through the Digg service, that it does not make the final media public domain, yet having the ranking and comments in the public is certainly nice, and the exposure and viral spreading is priceless.
Knowledge/Information is best shared, it is useless if it is locked up tight for the financial benefit of the few. Consider Thomas Jefferson's position as he was very concerned that these rights would become swords in the courtroom. Jefferson's famous comment....
I read all sorts of articles across the web that pose threats to that very spirit. New laws are being pushed by lobbyists, and entertainment industry shills. These are big money players, using money to directly influence the politicians We elect. The energy and money behind this is staggering, and it is wrong. In a time when distribution costs are at an all time low. In a time when content creation is at an all time high, These individuals are looking to cripple that spirit with THEIR laws. They seek to lock down movies, video clips, audio clips, tv shows, songs, anything they can lock down and charge for licensing. They want to soak every penny they can.
There is an opposite. It is the public domain, and fair use. Whenever something is dedicated, or more importantly "Licensed" in such a way that it guarantees freedom for the consumer. Content is truly free. Imagine a world where we can get free music, free videos, and create off of them, a derivative work that is totally creative and new, and most importantly Legal.
I agree that sometimes content has a value, especially, I agree that their creation Sometimes carries a cost and a length of time to create. I don't push for the abolition of these laws, yet in the face of the strong push for stronger laws, at a time in history where they should be getting more relaxed. I have to fight fire with fire. My real view is that things need protections, but that they should be a little more lax than they are today, and certainly for not as long a term. Consider that snapping a picture with your cell phone, or recording yourself sing in the shower, is protected for the rest of your life plus 70 years or More for your ancestors. How ridiculous is that? Why lock things down so tightly ? Especially when they are so frivolously created. Corporations are milking classic content using these egregious terms and overbearing rights. They are making Billions and crying poor mouth at the same time, using their money to secure the welfare system they have created for themselves. NO ONE should be fooled by them. Their fear uncertainty and doubt is unfounded.
It is in this spirit I would like to make you aware of a tragic opposition to this wonderful way of thinking. I would like to point you to legislation that will further restrict our rights, and make sharing a criminal activity. Legislation that is being foisted upon foreign governments as well as the USA. This treaty will embolden the entertainment industry at the cost of materials in the public domain. It is called the ACTA Treaty. It is not a law rather a treaty (which will of course lead to laws that will follow and prop it up). The perils of this treaty passing include materials and media that are communicated on the internet as well as when we travel. The Supreme Court has already ruled that border patrol agents may search your laptop for media when traveling abroad, and that means US and Foreign Agents who accept the treaty. I don't know about you but I don't need them looking at my private data. Yet in a post 9/11 world, these are the rights that are being taken away by the very people we elect to represent US, er corporations, no US !!
And then there is you. By commenting and posting things that you write into dig you expose things to the public domain. Don't believe me ? Read the bottom of diggs pages and you will see that all the hard work is clearly dedicated to the public domain. I understand that If I find an image or a song Through the Digg service, that it does not make the final media public domain, yet having the ranking and comments in the public is certainly nice, and the exposure and viral spreading is priceless.
Knowledge/Information is best shared, it is useless if it is locked up tight for the financial benefit of the few. Consider Thomas Jefferson's position as he was very concerned that these rights would become swords in the courtroom. Jefferson's famous comment....
He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition, seems to have been peculiarly and benevolently designed by nature, when she made them, like fire, expansible over all space, without lessening their density in any point, and like the air in which we breathe, move, and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or exclusive appropriation. Inventions then cannot, in nature, be a subject of property.
I read all sorts of articles across the web that pose threats to that very spirit. New laws are being pushed by lobbyists, and entertainment industry shills. These are big money players, using money to directly influence the politicians We elect. The energy and money behind this is staggering, and it is wrong. In a time when distribution costs are at an all time low. In a time when content creation is at an all time high, These individuals are looking to cripple that spirit with THEIR laws. They seek to lock down movies, video clips, audio clips, tv shows, songs, anything they can lock down and charge for licensing. They want to soak every penny they can.
There is an opposite. It is the public domain, and fair use. Whenever something is dedicated, or more importantly "Licensed" in such a way that it guarantees freedom for the consumer. Content is truly free. Imagine a world where we can get free music, free videos, and create off of them, a derivative work that is totally creative and new, and most importantly Legal.
I agree that sometimes content has a value, especially, I agree that their creation Sometimes carries a cost and a length of time to create. I don't push for the abolition of these laws, yet in the face of the strong push for stronger laws, at a time in history where they should be getting more relaxed. I have to fight fire with fire. My real view is that things need protections, but that they should be a little more lax than they are today, and certainly for not as long a term. Consider that snapping a picture with your cell phone, or recording yourself sing in the shower, is protected for the rest of your life plus 70 years or More for your ancestors. How ridiculous is that? Why lock things down so tightly ? Especially when they are so frivolously created. Corporations are milking classic content using these egregious terms and overbearing rights. They are making Billions and crying poor mouth at the same time, using their money to secure the welfare system they have created for themselves. NO ONE should be fooled by them. Their fear uncertainty and doubt is unfounded.
It is in this spirit I would like to make you aware of a tragic opposition to this wonderful way of thinking. I would like to point you to legislation that will further restrict our rights, and make sharing a criminal activity. Legislation that is being foisted upon foreign governments as well as the USA. This treaty will embolden the entertainment industry at the cost of materials in the public domain. It is called the ACTA Treaty. It is not a law rather a treaty (which will of course lead to laws that will follow and prop it up). The perils of this treaty passing include materials and media that are communicated on the internet as well as when we travel. The Supreme Court has already ruled that border patrol agents may search your laptop for media when traveling abroad, and that means US and Foreign Agents who accept the treaty. I don't know about you but I don't need them looking at my private data. Yet in a post 9/11 world, these are the rights that are being taken away by the very people we elect to represent US, er corporations, no US !!
posted by John at
9:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home