Santosh, I see my duty as working to ensure that access to information and knowledge is not blocked by greedy corporates, the Bill Gates of the world, and others who spread FUD (fear, uncertainity and doubt) over issues like "intellectual property" and irrational fears about "pirating" Shakespeare.
Goanet Reader, and, it's wherever possible CreativeCommons license, is an example of what we are trying. Likewise, at least a couple of books have been published in Goa in the past few months under such a license. My 7000+ sharable photos online is another small step in this direction. We have never faced problems about work being "stolen" and reproduced without permission. We need to make it easier for people to share content, and everyone would then benefit. We need to recognise that copyright laws (and patents) have reached a ridiculous point-of-no-return. My friends Lawrence Liang, et al of the Alternative Law Forum of Bangalore put it well when they say: OPENQUOTE The existence of alternatives to copyright -- such as copyleft, the open source movement, the Fairshare and Street Performer protocols -- belie the reality of copyright. Conceptually, these alternatives challenge the fundamentals upon which copyright rests. The emphasis is on the ability of users to modify and distribute works -- yet there is still 'incentive' to create, as is evident in the success and spread of Linux. Essentially there is no contradiction of purpose as it creates public rights for a public purpose. If the world of copyright constructs itself as the only model of incentive, reward, etc for creative labour, the symbolic power of the open source movement rests in the creation of alternative social imaginaries which turn every assumption of copyright upon itself. CLOSEQUOTE http://www.infochangeindia.org/IPR_article4.jsp On 22/03/07, Santosh Helekar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Frederick, As a writer what are your responsibilities towards your readers? Do you feel obliged to tell them that what you copied and pasted from Shakespeare is actually written by him? Here is the entirety of Shakespeare's works freely available on the internet, as it should be: http://shakespeare.mit.edu/ Would you now copy Hamlet and publish it under your own name in Goa as Amcho Shet? Neither Shakespeare nor MIT would sue you. Cheers, Santosh
-- FN M: 0091 9822122436 P: +91-832-240-9490 (after 1300IST please) http://fn.goa-india.org http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com What bloggers are saying about Goa: http://planet.goa-india.org/
