Re: Copyright and Intellectual property (was OT: Music)

[edunn -at- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

Specifically talking about the music industry may be OT for the list, but I
think the issue of copyright and being paid for one's work is very much on topic
for the list.

For a writer to claim: " the concept of "albums" is a convenient bundling a
bunch of crap with one or two good songs and charging a premium for it." is so
hypocritical that I can't beleive that anyone can actually delude themselves to
such a degree. Try saying this and then supporting it on the list: "a technical
or help manual is just a convenient way of bundling a bunch of useless
information along with one or two good procedures and charging a premium for
them."

If you want to offer your work for free, then so be it. If others want to offer
some or even all of their work for free, then so be it. But how dare anybody
decide that my work or the work of others may be used freely without
compensation and without our consent. Technology has changed, and the so called
one to one sharing is infact more powerful than many mass distribution methods
of the past. Granted, we've probably all photocopied the occasional section from
a book or asked a friend to copy an album. But there is a huge difference
between this and what freely swapping files on the net entails. In one case, it
is ONE person asking ONE other person "Can I have a copy" (still an immoral, or
at least questionable, and illegal act) and people saying "look what I have,
take as many copies as you want!". Those who believe Napster and their ilk are
right are, in essence, saying I should be able to buy a book and photocopy it as
many times as I want and let anyone come in and take a copy. Or heck, why don't
we just all support the notion of scanning all the books down at the local
Barnes and Nobel and then leaving them on-line for free?

If the way the music, software, or writing, is packaged in a way you do not
agree with, there is only one acceptable response to protest that fact. Not
using it and not buying it. If I only like red Smarties does that give me the
right to walk into any grocery store, open the boxes, take out the red ones, and
leave without paying? No! I just have to wait until Smarties are packaged with
only red ones and buy a box then.

Eric L. Dunn

BTW, I use MP3's. I have over a Gig of them. They are all either ones I made
from my own CDs or Freebies posted as such by the artists on the artists web
sites.