WipOut Contest

musicmaster writes "A couple of organisations that worry about too much copyright protection have organised an essay contest about intellectual property. This contest is meant as an alternative to a similar WIPO contest. The contest can be found at Wipout Among the participating organisations are Center for the public domain, the Register, the EFF and the GNU foundation."

Comments

Re:Great but...

[geekfiend]

The Declaration of Independence, does that ring a bell? If you consider the defination of the word, it was an essay. An essay that changed history. Some say for the worse, but it definatly had an impact!!!! And it did work. TJ did a good real life job of telling the world why the USoA decided to jump off the England Bandwagon

Some History of the Copyright

[namelessone99]

I cam across this while looking at Eric Flint's Homepage (1632 author). He has put about half of his books online for the reading enjoyment of the masses. He is very adament about not taking copyrights too far. http://www.baen.com/library/palaver4.htm. Here is the the first paragraph of the page: " These are two speeches given by Thomas Macaulay in Parliament in 1841, when the issue of copyright was being hammered out. They are, no other word for it, brilliant ? and cover everything fundamental which is involved in the issue. (For those not familiar with him, Macaulay would eventually become one of the foremost British historians of the 19th century. His History of England remains in print to this day, as do many of his other writings.) "

I don't get it..

[PopeAlien]

.. So how do I ensure that I am getting proper royalties from this essay? Has wipout got some sort of advanced DRM that will insure that my ip remains the property of wipo and I recieve .002 cent's per dollar sale? What about making sure that I recieve multiple royalties based on delivery media? I'm gonna have to run this by the RIAA and make sure it's legit, then I'll roam the web and 'sample' material from various sites and use it for my 'unique' personal essay.

We need to FIGHT the WIPO! Support Wipout!

[mr_don't]

The essential goals of the WIPO and the WTO's TRIPS agreement have essentially the same goals: to standardize Intellectual Property Law across national borders. James Love, of the Consumer Project on Technology, has Pharm-policy mailing list readers a link to this joint press release of the WTO and the WIPO. This press release describes a new joint initiative regarding cooperation between these two corporation-friendly organizations. The initiative calls for a new push to help developing countries establish more monopolistic intellectual property infrastructures. Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of the WIPO, states in the press release that intellectual property was a tool for technological advancement, economic growth and wealth creation for all nations, especially for least-developed countries. Does this joint initiative really take into account the economic needs of the people in less developed countries? Or does it simply add to the wealth of companies that monopolize information? What about economically comprimised people living in well-developed countries?

Read the essay entitled The WTO and the WIPO Combine Forces to Privatize the World .

Best Excerpt

[PingXao]

Thomas Macaulay in Parliament in 1841:

I will only say this, that if the measure before us should pass, and should produce one-tenth part of the evil which it is calculated to produce, and which I fully expect it to produce, there will soon be a remedy, though of a very objectionable kind. Just as the absurd acts which prohibited the sale of game were virtually repealed by the poacher, just as many absurd revenue acts have been virtually repealed by the smuggler, so will this law be virtually repealed by piratical booksellers. At present the holder of copyright has the public feeling on his side. Those who invade copyright are regarded as knaves who take the bread out of the mouths of deserving men. Everybody is well pleased to see them restrained by the law, and compelled to refund their ill-gotten gains. No tradesman of good repute will have anything to do with such disgraceful transactions. Pass this law: and that feeling is at an end. Men very different from the present race of piratical booksellers will soon infringe this intolerable monopoly. Great masses of capital will be constantly employed in the violation of the law. Every art will be employed to evade legal pursuit; and the whole nation will be in the plot.

Macaulay is basically saying that most people want to do the right thing, but when onerous laws are passed those laws become de-facto repealed by just about everyone. It lessens the dignity and honor of good people when rules and regulations become so one-sided in favor of special interests that ordinary people start to think there's nothing morally wrong with acting outside those laws and thus become "criminals" overnight. IMO such laws also demean the law itself and the respect which should be accorded to it.

At one time, people just wouldn't sit still for some things. With the general laziness and apathy of the general public (consumers) today, no wonder the special interests are trying so hard.

Re:Best Excerpt

[Speare]

Those who invade copyright are regarded as knaves who take the bread out of the mouths of deserving men. [...] Men very different from the present race of piratical booksellers will soon infringe this intolerable monopoly. --Thomas Macaulay, 1841

What strikes me here is the use of the word piratical. It is no new thing to consider the wholesale disregard for copyright as "piracy," a theft that has very real connotations on the wages of the copyright holder.

I am no fan of DMCA or SSSCA, but I am also no fan of disregard for copyright. It has its place, and as Thomas Macaulay was saying, if treated properly, ensures income for the popular working artist. The key here is to respect the creator's intent. If you want Metallica songs, pay for the CDs. If you want Stephen King novels, pay for the pages. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Vote with your dollars.

My submission is already out of date. ;-)

[Rogerborg]

Heh, I submitted this essay in early September, on the theme of mnndatory licensing of encryption know-how. At the time, it was science fiction. In the light of the hacker==terrorist backlash, and the SSSCA, it's already looking out of date and not nearly extreme enough. Go figure.