[MD] Krimel's Manifesto - A first draft

[Arlo Bensinger]

]Krimel]
Current copyright laws are obscene and should be repealed.

[Craig]
This is ignorance of the value of copyright laws; they do not 
restrict freedom of ideas.  (When did you ever hear someone say:  "I 
wish I knew what Pirsig says, but damn those copyright 
laws.")  Copyright laws serve (1) the moral purpose of assuring an 
author receives deserved payment for his work & (2) the practical 
purpose of promoting the creation of ideas.

[Arlo]
For a fair treatment of copyright issues, I recommend The Future of 
Ideas by Lawrence Lessig. Copryright laws, which are in actually an 
attempt by social level patterns to dominate intellectual level 
patterns, are a force that must be balanced between protecting the 
labor of the crafters and ensuring a vibrant, rich commons from which 
future innovation can evolve.

We, as a culture, accept this otherwise immoral usurption of social 
level "property" over the free and unowned nature of ideas simply 
because of our culturally placed importance on wealth and money. Our 
love of money overshadows are desire to spread and grow information 
and knowledge, and we come up with trite little excuses like "without 
money, no one would innovate"... that is a cancer in our modern 
dialogue, but one I suspect will be around for quite a while.

Ideas are born free, they are shackled by social level valuations of 
property and wealth, which sees ideas not as patterns for improving 
the human condition, but as patterns for the generation of wealth 
(and subsequently, power). Socially, we value the idea of financial 
compensation, and so moderate copyright laws are a forgivable 
immorality of our wealth-based society. But ultimately the MOQ goal 
should be the freeing, the unbridling, of knowledge and information, 
where ideas are not seen as some form of social property, but as 
patterns unowned and accessible by all.

In the meantime, balance. And that is what I think Krimel was 
suggesting. In their zeal to secure wealth, copyright law has become 
a stifling and oppressive force, rather than  a force for just 
compensation. This is just what Lessig argues, and his ideas about 
strengthening and valuing the "commons" (as he calls it) are 
something we should all consider.