> At 08:26 AM 4/27/2001 -0700, "Lynn Fredricks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >IP laws protect those who invest in IP, because IP IS property.
>
> IP is not property in the same sense that real estate is. Copyright is a
> limited
> right that balances the needs of society with the need to give people an
> incentive to create new work.
>
> Napster is just the latest front on the battle between these two competing
> interests. While some people think it is clearly theft, I think it's closer
> to the
> way consumers tape TV programs and share the tapes with each other, which
> TV networks considered illegal behavior when VCRs became popular. Most of
> us view this activity today as fair use.
I agree that IP is different from real estate, however it is property -
intellectual property.
I think the Napster problem is far more complex though that what you've said --
there are far more players and there are issues which make it quite different
than VCR use. VCRs make quite imperfect copies of transmitted "performances",
like cassettes make imperfect copies of radio performances. DVD, DAT, mp3 and
software make near or true copies of the original IP.
I sympathize with issues with DVD and CDR back up, because my believe is, based
on the IP component, that I should have a license to back up what I have bought,
in case the DVD gets scratched or a VHS tape breaks. I didnt pay for the
packaging, I paid for the right to use the IP.
I also sympathize with the draconian use of DVD regions, since I happen to speak
and also read a bit of Japanese, and cannot in the US use Japanese DVDs (nor may
the fully native members of my family do so). The ONLY real value from regions
is price protection for the industry players and defeat of the gray marketing of
DVDs.
However, if someone makes perfect copies and gives them away to their pals (the
few they have, or hundreds of thousands on Napster), then they are stealing IP.
In most cases, the original product was purchased by someone, and that purchase
included a license agreement on the product's use which limits the use of the
IP. That puts those copying folks into a breach of contract situation because
they are stealing IP.
--Lynn
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