>If I recall, what started this thread was pirating of software NOW, not >in some theoretical future when all materials may be replicated at zero >cost. I don't know whether your utopian future will ever arrive, but its >not here yet.
Of course not. What we are seeing is the very beginning of something much larger, and I was simply stating how humorous I think it is that people are freaking out so much about something like software/music pirating, when it is only the tip of a huge iceberg soon to come. >But our present cultural standards are the ones we have, and society >works more smoothly if everyone is playing by the same rules. The >standards may evolve, but the social contract asks us to play by current >standards. Yet a rigid adherance to standards which are becoming outdated (by technology, or simply by new philosophical/sociological modes of thought) will result in the demise of any given society. Most civilizations fall because they are ultimately unable to integrate new ideas into their way of thinking. The "social contract" of 200 years ago said that it was totally acceptable to enslave a person because of his skin color, and to deny equal rights to a person because of her gender. If we hadn't outgrown these outmoded ways of thought, our country would've been eclipsed by those who did. The "social contract" today states that a person can create a product or piece of artwork which has the potential to benefit other people, yet he/she has the right to withhold that product from people who cannot afford to pay "money" for it. I submit that in the future, this idea will be considered ludicrous and outmoded. ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
