April 19, 2006
Open rights and wrongs?
From the Need To Know 2006-03-17 archive, a satirical take on Cory Doctorow’s ‘OPEN RIGHTS GROUP’:
OPEN RIGHTS GROUP are endorsing this weekend’s CORY DOCTOROW’S COPYFIGHTERS’ DRUNKEN BRUNCH AND TALKING SHOP (brunch from 11am-1pm at Stanhope Centre, Stanhope Place, London W2 2HH; “excursion” to Speakers Corner from 1pm, both free), where you can eat, drink, and learn how record labels all have “obsolete business models” and therefore must be destroyed. Our favourite counterpoint to which is currently inspired by blogger James Boardwell
big media is a bit like pre-invasion Iraq — famously dictatorial, sitting on a vast stockpile of desirable resources — making it the duty of all right-thinking web-users (or “second superpower”, if you will) to liberate these resources purely by force of technological superiority, despite the lack of any clear plan for what the old regime ought to be replaced with. http://www.craphound.com/000615.html’
Referring to a photo of Doctorow :
standing at speaker’s corner from this latter link comes a comment:
“I want free access to your ladder. And your t-shirt. And the contents of your bag. And your bag. No? Why not? So what do I care if you paid for it? Give it to me.
Ever had anything taken and used without your permission? I had my scooter stolen, and I once had an original photograph of mine used without permission.
What really is the difference between stealing a scooter and stealing a photograph? The scooter cannot easily be copied; stolen yes, copied no. For the photograph, stealing and reproducing without permission are the same thing. Yes I know there is a theoretical distinction between ownership and copyright, I’m simply using the scooter theft to illustrate why information theft is so appealing to you. It’s EASY.
Why should anything that can be expressed as a bit be free? If it’s your original creation, why can you not protect it from being copied? Vespa do it, I do it, why can’t Microsoft and Coldplay?
One reason big scary megacorp is sphinctering up on issues of copyright is because of your belief “that bits exist to be copied.” I think the free information lobby has just begun to realise that they brought DRM on themselves.”
Yes, I’ve quoted the whole comment — but it’s a great kick start for a class debate.
And, yes, I’m stealing his photo and bandwidth!
Posted by markp at April 19, 2006 10:03 AM