[MD] SOPA and PIPA

[Tuukka Virtaperko]

Horse,

>
> 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.

Tuukka:
Obviously, in the values of economy, it is better to have more money 
instead of not having more money or having less money. The information 
sector is one of the few industries that is actually still growing and 
creating jobs. It's no religion of computer nerds. It simply works, but 
currently existing large corporations want to destroy something that 
would render them mostly obsolete if it were allowed to grow into a 
large industry.

However, in the absence of legal obstacles, these information based 
services would replace the current outdated business models organically 
and without requiring other kinds of interference than that of consumers 
favoring business models that serve them better. The SOPA/PIPA uproar is 
essentially about whether we favor stagnant business models and refusal 
to innovate instead of consumers, innovation and new businesses. That's 
why we want and need to move to an information based economy, and will 
actually do so unless forcefully prevented.

We do not need to move to an information based economy if we don't want 
to. But that means piracy will make people have information for free. So 
basically the stagnant old world is trying to shoot down legal business 
models which would remove or alleviate the need for piracy, because they 
would have the side-effect of also removing the need for the outdated 
business models!

Horse:
> 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.

Tuukka:
If we don't have much information based economy, we will have piracy and 
information available for free. I don't exactly have a problem with 
that, but most people won't agree to that. What people could conceivably 
agree to is to never allow laws like SOPA or PIPA to pass.

I don't know why you think information based economy has inert people 
reaping the profit. CS and IT are very hard work, with lots of 
competition and businesses falling and new ones appearing. Do you 
actually know what kind of work it is? But I do agree programs like 
Windows and Photoshop are probably too expensive.

> 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.

Tuukka:

I don't get it. What do you mean by "information based economy"? That 
selling audio CD:s in a store already is information based economy? 
Well... sure, but in that case we have already had information based 
economy for a long time. Centuries, actually, since this also includes 
books.

Musicians who live by making art generally make the profit of live 
performances, not of record sales. Besides, the average income of 
musicians has constantly increased during the last decade or so despite 
allegations of piracy destroying art: 
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/90751/study-musicians-income-up-66-despite-decreased-album-sales/

Horse:
>
> 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.

Tuukka:
Meaning... what? Nobody is suggesting that because we are moving towards 
an information based economy, food will become free. It's not like we're 
actually even "moving". We are just expanding to the information 
dimension, and as a result, the real world dimension begins to appear 
proportionally smaller despite neither growing nor becoming smaller to 
any significant extent.


The Register:
 > Former Mozilla CEO John Lilly captured 
<http://john.jubjubs.net/2012/01/06/whats-bothering-me-about-the-sopa-discussion/> 
this best, arguing, "What’s extremely discouraging to me right now is 
that I don’t really see how we [the tech world and the US Congress] can 
have a nuanced, technically-informed, respectful 
discussion/debate/conversation/working relationship."



Tuukka:
Respect isn't something people get automatically. The point of having 
respect is that under certain circumstances, incompetence may lead to 
loss of respect.

The Congress did not give due respect to the tech world in the first 
place. This is why we couldn't have a technically-informed discussion. 
Looking for scapegoats? There are plenty... such as the media, which has 
not taught citizens about the importance of the tech world and copyright 
issues, so the common public has not been able to vote the right people 
to represent them in the senate and congress. And so on. There's no one 
culprit, but the tech world needs more respect from everyone simply 
because if they don't give that respect, they will mess up their own 
matters in addition to messing up the tech world.

-Tuukka