To me, the very phrase "intellectual property" is an oxymoron. I think the concept of property should only be applied to tangible objects - things which can be damaged or destroyed, or things which when someone takes them from you you no longer have them. This is not the case with music, or books, or anything else which can be copied exactly without changing the original.
The entire concept needs to be re-thought, and the laws need to be re-written. Copyright (in the US at least) was originally intended as a balance between providing an incentive for artists (very unclear that this is necessary - did a lack of copyright protections stop Bach from composing?) and the public good, which benefits from having free access to art and information. The current term for copyright is life of the author plus 70 years, and is extended periodically - so it's effectively eternal. There is no longer any balance. While Joe Sixpack may not care about this, I think the ease with which the law can be (and is) violated using computer technology will eventually force a change. -- opaqueice ------------------------------------------------------------------------ opaqueice's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4234 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=23869 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
