From: Jason Joel Thompson (jasonjthompson@home.com)
Date: Sun Aug 13 2000 - 15:39:09 MDT
Dan Fabulich wrote:
> Anyway, my main point is this: Even if it is an existant right to
> prevent others from copying certain pieces of information, there's
> nothing that you can do to stop it, and the situation will become even
> more hopeless for you as encryption and "ripping" technologies of
> various sorts improve. You might regard these developments as bad; I
> don't. But they are unstoppable.
Your argument is essentially that since we can't stop everyone from doing
it, we shouldn't even try. Clearly then we should stop prosecuting
murderers as well, since it's obvious that murders continue, despite our
efforts to prevent them. Fortunately, despite the fact that absolute
security may be impossible, we are sufficiently flexible to understand that
it is more desirable to strive towards security than to reliquish all
attempts to control the situation.
I find this "it's impossible, don't bother" mentality to be bothersome in
the general population, but even more so amongst supposed transhumans-- In
some ways I feel that we ought to determine what is -desirable- and then
move towards making it happen. Every generation is filled with the
nay-sayers who say such and such is impossible, despite the seemingly
endless historical evidence of progession.
In fact, I would love to call a moratorium on the "it's impossible, don't
bother," argument-- why not try arguing the case of the basis of whether it
is desirable and leave your inability to imagine innovative solutions at the
door.
There are numerous examples of humans imposing arbitrary order upon a system
in order to exert a desirable influence over it. In my opinion, government
is simply a form of social technology, and a powerful tool in our arsenal.
> It's not irrational to enforce one's alleged right. It's irrational
> to TRY to do so if enforcement is impossible. (Lucky for us, it's a
> lot easier to enforce one's right to live than it is to enforce
> copyright.)
Those damn irrational Wright brothers. Didn't they know that it had been
scientifically proven that heavier than air flight was impossible?
--
::jason.joel.thompson::
::wild.ghost.studios::
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