[MD] SOPA and PIPA

[Horse]

Hi All

Interesting link regarding SOPA/PIPA:

http://go.theregister.com/i/sct-mid33/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/19/sopa_is_gone_are_you_happy_now/

The rise and defeat of SOPA/PIPA seems to revolve an initially badly 
thought out threat to destroy the internet as it now operates countered 
by lots of screaming and shouting
Instead of using reason and persuasion on both sides what we see are, 
basically, threats and name-calling.

Here's a quote from the article:

"Even an open-source revolutionary like Marc Fleury groks this, writing 
in support of SOPA:

Increasingly the western world relies on IP to make a living. Since we 
produce less "real world" goods and more "digital world" goods we open 
ourselves to piracy. If we are to move to an information based economy 
there needs to be a limit to the infringement of IP.

You or I may disagree, but it would be useful if we were to do so 
through thoughtful conversation, rather than 140-character bursts of 
indignation, self-censorship of websites, etc."


Why do we want (or need) to move to an information based economy?!? Is 
this a real need or is it a created need - i.e. created by those that 
stand to profit by it to the detriment of those that don't.
It seems to me that the main recipients of the benefits of an 
information based economy are those that do the least in order to gain 
the most.
Here's an example:
Musicians are the artists that create a 'consumable product' - i.e. 
music. The vast majority of musicians get little more than a tiny 
fraction of the proceeds of their endeavours and yet a multi-billion 
dollar industry revolves around what they produce. Most artists don't 
even own the IP that is being fought over in SOPA/PIPA.

IP, like money, has a place in the world but it is not the be-all and 
end-all of existence. A balanced economy - one that has both real world 
and digital world good - makes more sense than an economy based solely 
or mainly on one or the other.

Horse



-- 

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
— Frank Zappa