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Piro On Why .Coms Don't Work
cabbey writes: "Say the name MegaTokyo and most people, if they recognize it, think 'one of the best manga/comics on the net today. (ignoring the recent 'stick figure dom' days while Piro was moving).' But few people think about the social, economic and philosophic issues the authors' rants can delve into. This morning Piro put up a rather long 'rant' that's really a catching insight into why the dot-com world didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving. (archive link to the rant in question, it's below the comic. ;) "
Link
The issue of Intellectual Property (IP) has been tossed around in this forum over and over again, with some people hating having copyrights and other controls over IP, and some people in favor. My personal thinking on the issue is that in the future, there will not be anything but IP. Here's why:
Someday, hopefuly, we will have machines that will generate any physical shape out of any physycal material. Things like matter recombiners, or replicators or whatever, will be commonplace. It won't be for a while, most likely I won't live to see this, but someday I hope it happens.
Now at this point, everything made of matter will be worthless. You will get a brand new 10karat diamond in 5:30minutes. A new Ferrari while you take a walk around the block. What then? You could say that at this point, money (and value) have no place in society, but as the evolved monkeys we are, there is always a need for a power structure, and this means money. I used to think that someday we could all "ascend" into another realm of conciousness where everyone will be equal and no one person would be "better" than anyone else. Sadly, I no longer believe in this.
So at this point, the only thing that you can trade, that can have value, that can define your usefulness to the world is your IP. That is, the contents of your mind will be the only thing that you can put a "price" to. This happens already today, for example engineers get paid for their designs, they don't actually have to MAKE anything, just tell someone else how to. This is also true of some of the fields of science, such as theoretical phycics.
And also, of some artists. In the "hardware" arts, such as painting, sculpting, etc. there is no question about what someone's work is, since there is an actual object there that represents their work. But what about the "software" artists, people that sing, or act? Their work is not tangible, and that leads people to think that it has no value, or very little value (monetary). So they feel it is ok to share and trade their songs (or acts) with others. Also, they mention that it is not stealing, since the person who bough the CD still has the CD.
What they fail to realize is that the theft is from the artist, not from the consumer. Why? Because you are sharing the contents of his or her mind, which have been expressed as music, to others, without respecting the wishes of that person to receive some sort of compensation for their work. Yes, there are big bad companies representing these people, but the fact of the matter is that most artists live off of their work, and therefore need some sort of REAL MONEY to get by. Most muscicians will agree that music should be free, and enjoyed. Some of them will work for free for a good cause, or jut for fun. But at the end of the day, when you have a mortgage paymend due, and you have to clothe your kids, good will does not cut it. Sharing art has its place, and if the artist is willing to give his art for free, then the better for everyone. But in the real world, these people have to actually live, not just spend 24/7 playing for pennies at a bar. Of course, the same thing applies to actors, and in the future, scupltors and painters as well.
Will the raping of IP ever stop? Doubtful. Again, we are just monkeys. We see a bannana on the ground, we take it. Hell, I take it... and I'd say that about half the MP3s I have are "stolen". The point is that when it comes time to educate the next generation (our kids) we should strive to make them better than ourselves. So the next time you like an artist, just go out and buy the CD, even if you have all their MP3s already. I have done this quite a few times with differents artists such as Ayreon and Saliva, just to name a few. I rarely listen to radio, or watch MTV, so the only exposure I have to new music is just randomly downloading MP3s from other people I know.
Hopefully, by the time we have technology to manipulate matter at will, we will have an intellect as advanced.
Women of the world, it is time to stop sucking dick!
Sucking dick is the ultimate act of subservience;
a woman sucking dick not only gets no orgasm for
her work, but gets a mouthfull of what can only
be described as warm rancid milk for her efforts.
This sexual slavery must be stopped!
Women, reclaim your mouths, and
STOP
SUCKING
DICK!