Well, I think Friday's class was an interesting one. In retrospect, some of the words I used ("repulsive," "repugnant," "intolerable") might have been, well, a bit too harsh, even off-putting. I apologize if that was the case. But these blunders arise from my desire that you confront important topics--like the laws and systems that dictate what you can do with information--confront them in some way that isn't apathy or boredom.
To summarize the importance of this issue, there are two converging trends:
1. Your increasing dependence on computerized information.
2. Your decreasing control over that information.
In all seriousness, I'd love to read some comments about Friday or any of this.
(This is not a comment about Copyright, but something else. I just wasn't sure where else to post it.)
ReplyDeleteI just watched a documentary that came out in 2006 titled 'Zeitgeist: The Movie'. It is divided into three parts, but the third part I found the most intriguing since the first two parts weren't anything I haven't heard before. I had quite a few WTF moments and came very close to losing whatever optimism I had for the future of humanity. We've had discussions in class that are re-iterated in this documentary which is why I thought I'd mention it. It's free to watch online, so check it out!
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
I've seen the movie, all I can remember is there was a long section about the Federal Reserve. I wasn't particularly impressed, but I can't remember specifically why. Perhaps I'll watch it again if I get the chance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link.
Just wonder...isn't it true that we have copyright and all that patents because it is not a good idea just to rely on people's good nature? I mean yeah we are leaving in the U.S. when everyone has pension and allowance and compensation and all the stuff. But even now the U.S. is suffering from violations of copyright from China. And in those third world countries I do not think people will be very glad to donate money listening to music while they barely have money for their 10 kids' education
ReplyDeleteCopyright, to me, is a little abused. I have noticed that Youtube does not check reports of supposed copyright. People abuse the DMCA to remove people from Youtube, by falsely flagging videos.
ReplyDeleteAlso, record companies are overreacting way too much in regards to suing thirteen year olds for downloading one song off the internet. People were trading records way before the internet and I did not hear about any problems with that.
Yikes. "Their 10 kids education..." More full response upcoming.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that I havent really noticed the copyright trend before. But I agree with your question; how is copyright really protecting the artist at all? all it is doing is protecting the publishers, who in most cases, are the enemy to both other sides anyway, artist and consumer.
ReplyDeleteIf the file sharing companies and prosecuted individuals had Google's legal team, there would be no controversy over the issue. They are too good.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments. They're really interesting. On this last one, I think in some cases artists rights are being protected, in some small and very limited way. But this fact allows corporations to impose unprecedented, draconian measures upon us, the users.
ReplyDeleteOne more salient and frightening thought on this point: copyright is literally the right to make a copy. When technology evolved to allow us to make copies efficiently on our own, the law expanded automatically. (Although the DMCA made things much worse.) In the age of books, it was impossible for a user to infringe on this law; there is no way to use a book that infringes (unless you count copying it out by hand, which is prohibitively inefficient).
But here's the frightening part: today, every single use of digital information produces copies (on servers, in caches and RAM, etc.). So the situation has entirely flipped. Now there is no way to use this media WITHOUT infringing, at least with the letter of the law. Likely outcomes of this include some of the new and highly tyrannical payment schemes being devised by Amazon, Apple, and others--schemes such as pay-per-read or pay-per-page.
This is an assault on our freedoms.
I would like to point out that it is becoming increasingly harder to find the information that was one easily accessible, such as a synopsis or summary of a short story. Now, you are required to pay a fee in order to read a summary of a book. I have been trying to look up a summary for a short story that I read in a Literature class in college, because I do not want to re-read 20+ stories before the class. Although they are short, they add up in the time is takes me to read and comprehend each one. This is a problem. Summaries should be accessible. After all, they are only summaries, and not the actual article. This is BS.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about venting on the blog first; sometimes I do the same thing- talk about something on the blog. I'm always impressed by the way you resolve things.
ReplyDeleteThe post is so informative on the worthwhile awesome collection, hope you will keep posting good material.
ReplyDeleteThats very good . i think this information really help me . Thanks.
ReplyDeletethanks for the information, very useful reviews of her
ReplyDeletethanks for the information...!!
ReplyDeleteMake Earning on your Every panels you purchase, Many types of Earning Systems
ReplyDelete