RE: More ethics...

[KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com]

>Although interesting, they fail (as all these arguments) to address the
>solutions: how do you protect copyrighted material while still allowing
>people to use it?  
>
>They don't address this because, quite simply, these people want their
>cake and the right to redistribute it too. They want 
>everything and they
>don't want to pay for anything. They think everything should be freely
>available for them to rip off, trade, and use without paying. 

Speaking of having cake, and eating it over and over 
and over... and still having it...
Here's an analogy I used privately with Arlen and Andrew 
and others.
Let me know if you see yourselves in it, anywhere 
(offlist, please, I'll summarize if anything interesting 
 comes out).

Some of you folks have been plumping for the 
unquestionable virtue and universal utility 
of so-called "intellectual property" law, such 
as copyright. Some of the same people are in love 
with the DVD protection scheme and Adobe's rules 
for their e-books that include forbidding reading 
aloud...(that one WAS a joke, wasn't it?).

Others of you kinda wonder what all the fuss is 
about. You'd be the ones who write everyday 
user guides, for which the presence or absence of 
copyright just doesn't matter much.

Those who got a tad cranky are the ones who enjoy, 
or hope soon to enjoy a privileged position that might 
now be at risk.  If you are going to write the Great 
American Novel, better do it soon...

Who's the enemy? Well, there's Kevin, a handy target 
who spoke up with a contrarian argument or two, about 
the validity of copyright.  But along with legions 
of MP3-trading kids, the "enemy" might also be your 
neighbor the dry-cleaner, or the plumber or the 
plasterer/drywaller, or the carpenter who installed 
your new rec room.

Why would good, solid, dependable folk like those 
be questioning a hallowed concept like copyright?
A good plumber is a skilled, creative individual, 
probably with some business sense thrown in. S/he 
tackles problems and solves them every day, building 
or repairing things. The same applies to a mechanic, 
a carpenter, a gardener, a chef, a welder, a 
sign-painter... pick a trade.

There's an important point that all these people, 
in their daily work, have in common. When they 
finish a job, and get paid for it, they move on.
Most of 'em produce something physical that is 
often unique (within the parameters that it's 
still plumbing, say, it happens to solve this 
particular plumbing problem in an imaginative, 
practical way).

But, to get paid again, they have to work another 
job, build another house, fix another transmission.
And then they have to do it again, and again.
They may very well have employed just as much 
creativity, style, ingenuity, etc., as any writer 
or artist.

What's the difference?  The writer or arteeste 
finishes a job, gets paid for it, and then 
expects the money to keep rolling in. But they 
don't think they have to do another spot of WORK 
for that next paycheque, and the one after and 
the one after that.

Why should the plumber or carpenter or mechanic 
want to extend a privilege to you that is not 
reciprocated?  What do they gain? Where's the 
utility for them?  
"Let's see... I'm supposed to respect your right 
to sit on your hiney and have cash keep rolling 
in from ONE job, while I have to get up and go 
to work every day, doing job after job, after job?
Ri-i-ight."

You want to protect your thoughts and your creative 
genious? Keep it secret. Tell it/show it to no one.
Treasure and admire it in private. There. It's protected.

Or... take a little risk, and give private showings... but 
allow no cameras or recording equipment. Still mostly 
protected.

Right now, the farmer's kids are abandoning the model 
that lets you live off ONE performance (they're the 
one's trading MP3 files). Pretty soon, the farmers 
themselves (who are voters, don't you know) may start 
giving the whole arrangement some thought, in their 
practical farmer way. Tell us again, what's in it for them?


/kevin
(Devil's Advocate   ... whoops! was that a protected phrase?
                        do I owe royalties to whoever named 
                        that movie?)


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