[p2p-research] Slashdot | Singer In Grocery Store Ordered To Pay Royalties

[Paul D. Fernhout]

http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/09/10/21/2319200/Singer-In-Grocery-Store-Ordered-To-Pay-Royalties
"An assistant at a grocery store in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, was ordered 
by the Performing Right Society (PRS) to obtain a performer's license and to 
pay royalties because she was informally singing popular songs while 
stocking groceries. The PRS later backed down and apologized. This after the 
same store had turned off the radio after a warning from the PRS. We have 
entered an era where music is no longer an art for all to enjoy, but rather 
a form of private property that must be regulated and taxed like alcohol. 
"Music to the ears" has become 'dollars in the bank'."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/8317952.stm

One insightful comment there:
   http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1413441&cid=29832651
"""
New alternative to censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
by tinkerton (199273) on Thursday October 22, @03:54AM (#29832651)
   and your spell checker gets a module that suggests cheaper words to use 
in your sentences. And it takes in account the extra tax on words the 
government doesn't like. You can still write what you want but some things 
are really costly..
"""

A related satire I wrote (sent to the US DOJ in 2002) about a world where it 
costs money per law and per instance to cite legal precedents or talk about 
laws:
   "Microslaw "
   http://www.pdfernhout.net/microslaw.html
"""
My fellow Americans. There has been some recent talk of free law by the 
General Public Lawyers (the GPL) who we all know hold un-American views. I 
speak to you today from the Oval Office in the White House to assure you how 
much better off you are now that all law is proprietary. The value of 
proprietary law should be obvious. Software is essentially just a form of 
law governing how computers operate, and all software and media content has 
long been privatized to great economic success. Economic analysts have 
proven conclusively that if we hadn't passed laws banning all free software 
like GNU/Linux and OpenOffice after our economy began its current recession, 
which started, how many times must I remind everyone, only coincidentally 
with the shutdown of Napster, that we would be in far worse shape then we 
are today. RIAA has confidently assured me that if independent artists were 
allowed to release works without using their compensation system and royalty 
rates, music CD sales would be even lower than their recent inexplicably low 
levels. The MPAA has also detailed how historically the movie industry was 
nearly destroyed in the 1980s by the VCR until that too was banned and all 
so called fair use exemptions eliminated. So clearly, these successes with 
software, content, and hardware indicate the value of a similar approach to law.
   There are many reasons for the value of proprietary law. You all know 
them since you have been taught them in school since kindergarten as part of 
your standardized education. They are reflected in our most fundamental 
beliefs, such as sharing denies the delight of payment and cookies can only 
be brought into the classroom if you bring enough to sell to everyone. But 
you are always free to eat them all yourself of course! [audience chuckles 
knowingly]. But I think it important to repeat such fundamental truths now 
as they form the core of all we hold dear in this great land.
   First off, we all know our current set of laws requires a micropayment 
each time a U.S. law is discussed, referenced, or applied by any person 
anywhere in the world. This financial incentive has produced a large amount 
of new law over the last decade. This body of law is all based on a core 
legal code owned by that fine example of American corporate capitalism at 
its best, the MicroSlaw Corporation. ...
"""

Contrast with this other idea that is actually being tried:
"Your Rights Online: Open Source Effort To Codify America's "Operating 
System" Online"
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/10/16/2312240/Open-Source-Effort-To-Codify-Americas-Operating-System-Online?from=rss
"""
"O'Reilly Radar is reporting on an effort to produce Law.gov, 'America's 
Operating System, Open Source.' The group Public.Resource.Org seeks to 
'create a solid business plan, technical specs, and enabling legislation for 
the federal government to create Law.gov. [They] envision Law.gov as a 
distributed, open source, authenticated registry and repository of all 
primary legal materials in the United States.' According to its new website, 
'Law.gov would be similar to Data.gov, providing bulk data and feeds to 
commercial, non-commercial, and governmental organizations wishing to build 
web sites, operate legal information services, or otherwise use the raw 
materials of our democracy.'"
""

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/
http://www.beyondajoblessrecovery.org/