[p2p-research] Fwd: [fcforum] Fw: iPad DRM is a dangerous step backward. Sign the petition!

[M. Fioretti]

On Thu, Feb 04, 2010 15:35:12 PM -0600, Kevin Carson (free.market.anticapitalist at gmail.com) wrote:
 
> Even many people who recognize copyright in principle think its
> present duration 75 years after the death of the creator, or the
> fact that it automatically exists without any requirement to
> register it or publicly embed ownership claims in it, is an
> abomination.

The current 75+ duration of copyright, as well the _amount_ of things
it allows the creators to control, is an abomination, no question
about that. But (if you accept copyright, of course, but please let's
give it for granted for this post only, to explain the following
point) the fact that it automatically exists is a blessing, it would
be an abomination to do the contrary.

To use a buzzword, is as anti-web-2.0 as it can be. Think to all the
fuss about EVERYBODY being finally empowered by the net to be a
producer, or just to express himself..

Are you seriously saying that an individual should register with some
central office any SINGLE blog post or picture he publishes to be
entitled to copyright? Do you want to generate ANOTHER sets of huge
central public offices very expensive to maintain, just to shuffle
paperwork around, or, much worse, a set of bureaucratic procedures
that would quickly be made so complicated and expensive that only
corporations would be able to claim copyright? Look at the current
status of patents.

"Copyright is intrinsically bad" is another question, but as long as
it exists it's much, much better to have automatic acknowledgment.

> The result is that we're awash in a sea of "orphan" content that
> nobody even knows who claims copyright on it, and can't use for fear
> they'll be trolled the next day with a DMCA notice.

No, this is ONLY the result of the excessive length of copyright. The
truth is that if copyright had never been no more than 10 or even 20
years, 90% at least of that sea of orphan content would be a sea of
public domain stuff that everybody could use as they please, without
asking any permission.

Almost all the actual damage caused by current copyright legislation
is simply a direct or indirect consequence of the current
_duration_. Cut that down and, while the philosofical difference
between advocates and attackers of copyright will still remain, there
will be way less practical damages to argue about.

     Marco