Slashdot Mirror
US Says 4.3 Billion People Live With Bad IP Laws
bowser100 writes "The US government has released its annual Special 301 report (PDF) in which it purports to identify those countries with inadequate intellectual property laws. Michael Geist digs into the report, noting the list is so large that it is rendered meaningless. According to the report, approximately 4.3 billion people
live in countries without effective intellectual property protection. Since the report does not include any African countries outside of North Africa, the US is effectively saying that only a small percentage of the world meets its standard for IP protection."
309 million people in the US
compared to
"without effective intellectual property protection":
4 300 million people in the other countries around the world
If USA is the country that promotes democracy, doesn't this thing kind of say that the rest of the world does not want US IP and patent laws dictated to the them, and that US should respect it? Just like real democracy.
It looks like ~87% of people in the world doesn't like or want ACTA. Why does US push it to other countries, and why is it done with so secret methods?
While my country also does have good copyright laws, I don't want US to dictate us.
ground breaking news, 4.3 billion people with IP laws the US don't like.
I have yet to see anyone present objective evidence that the existence of copyright, either in its current term/form the US/WIPO/ACTA is pushing, (or at all) helps the economy in the countries in question compared to other systems or models.
Obviously there are significant businesses that thrive now and could only exist with strong copyright protections. Entertainment, media creation, information aggregators and sellers - all require strong copyright to exist. Without these protections they would be hurt, somewhat, and some would go away.
There is incredible interest and energy in people to consume, remix, and to create, even with the existing, extremely long copyright term, and the vast majority of media under strict copyright protections. Would we see dramatic new businesses and opportunities arise if copyright were less stringent or not? Would these new markets and activities be better for economies than the loss of existing industries or not?
What evidence supports the belief that having these companies and these particular industries are what is best for a countries' economy, and for the people whose lives and livelihoods these laws effect? If copyright protections were opt-in for example, but the default were similar to a CC/BY for created content, what new industries would rise up and create value? Would they create more value than would be lost? I don't know of any evidence that can address that question. What if copyright protections were 14 years again, with the ability for owners to pay or re-apply for extensions? That would clear create value in new areas, but would it be better than the current system?
If anyone has pointers to evidence either way, I'd love to see it.
It's more like 309,166,000.
THL phish sticks
When you exclude most of Africa and the US you have... about 4.3 billion people.
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
"without effective intellectual property protection" != "Bad IP laws"
Just sayin'.
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
Luckily the IP limit is right around 4.3 billion. Just wait until IPv6. Wait, I think I misunderstood...
I will try to bring the URL to slashdot
A large group of countries consisting of ~4.3 billion people have released a report saying at least 300 million people are living under draconian IP laws.
Does this study include the 300 million in the US living with bad IP laws? Over restrictive is just as bad as not restrictive enough. The fact that a big company can get a $2 million dollar judgment against somebody for non-commercially (and possibly inadvertently) sharing mere tens of song tracks on a file sharing service MIGHT be a sign that our own system is just as screwed up as the systems with no copyright protection at all.
We are not trending towards a happy medium, at least not if Disney and the RIAA have anything to say about it.
This is actually irony for once, right? Because somehow they forgot to count the 300 million people in the United States who live with bad IP laws.
Fuck yeah!
Sent from your iPad.
For a sufficiently wrong definition of "bad," I guess they're right.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
"...the US is effectively saying that only a small percentage of the world meets its standard for IP protection."
It's standard for IP protection being: It's *our* IP. All of it. Give us all your money and control over your country or we'll drop bombs on you. Now go away or we shall taunt you a second time.
i really would like to read a sensible answer to this.
Read radical news here
You know, there's a point where you have to step back and realize that you're a minority (by a long shot) and when you are on your own little unique land its *typically* not everyone else that's wrong.
What trully is inadequate is thinking that "intellectual" entities can be "property"... That's the source of all problems... Period.
the corporate "persons" are speaking through their mouthpiece, the government.
Let others decide for themselves how they want to treat "intellectual property".
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
[...]
Was the US included in that list? If not, it should have been!
...only a small percentage of the world meets its standard for IP protection.
You say that as if you think that's a BAD thing!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Wasn't "yeah!" supposed to be "you!"
Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
US Says 4.3 Billion People Live With Bad INlaws - fixed it.
If you've got an economy built solely on Intellectual Property ownership, you're fuckin' DOOMED in the near future!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
". . .the US is effectively saying that only a small percentage of the world meets its standard for IP protection."
This a great thing.
In fact, this lack of IP law needs to be expanded to the US.
as a canajen, i'd just like to say it's youse guys and your mafia strong arm ip laws that are bad, bad for business (yes, really), bad for mom & pop, and most of all bad for the children. think of the children.
when big government crawls in bed, drunk on power, with big business, and a big chunk of that big business is media, then the government has crossed a line that doesn't bear crossing. it has said to a big part of big business, "you control what gets out to the public and what the public sees and hears, and, so shape our culture; and we'll control the public with threats and prison terms if they don't pay for and restrict the use what you put to them as their own culture." and when you've crossed that line the consequences will be bloody.
ideopath @ play
Either they are too lax (or laxly enforced) or they basically turn buyers into the modern equivalent to sharecroppers with regard to their property rights in the goods they buy. What we need is a global system that treats copyrighted goods like physical goods, and enforces the norms of physical goods on them. The government's only role should be to create enough artificial scarcity so that the goods can be sold.
some of those countries have no respect for the patented gene sequences found in species in their countries by western scientists
ip law is a way of saying that every thought and utterance is not the common good of mankind but is a monopoly that must be respected, and everyone must contribute cash because you were the first to register something many others probably thought of as well, or in a slightly different form. ip law is a farce. it reards distributors and entrenched corporate powers, definitely at the expense of artists and inventors (NOT in support of them). it overly legalizes and bureaucratizes with hefty intrusions into basic freedoms a byzantine scheme to compartmentalize a process which has been free for the vast majority of humankind's existence: the exchange of simple information
and its not even enforceable. no warchest in all the first world nations can adequately shore up the artificial patronage system ip law defenders imagine. nevermind that ip law doesn't even make economic sense, because with all that intrusive controlling, less is earned than simply letting information go wherever its wanted, and profitting off of ancillary revenue streams created by letting it all hang out instead
ip law is an absurd joke, and is not to be respected. it is your moral duty to ignore it or actively undermine or destroy it
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
So in essence what the lobbyists are forcing the US government to claim is that the entire world is horribly wrong while only the US legal system, which they bought with their own hard-earned money, along with other jurisdictions which were bought out, are the only instances which may be seen as somewhat decent remotely fair.
Meanwhile, the world has enjoyed centuries of cultural and scientific progress and an amazing economic progress, all happening without this sort of totalitarian and draconian type of legislation which is profoundly anti-democratic. In fact, humanity saw great progress being achieved whenever someone found a way to facilitate the dissemination of cultural and educational works, whether by inventions such as writing and the printing press. The internet is the modern day's version of the printing press but can only be a modern day's revolution if the freedom to freely access copyrighted works without the copyright owner's authorization is acknowledged, respected and defended, something which these industry idiots are on a mission to undermine.
Slashdot, fix your code or at least hire someone who is competent at it to do it for you.
I am truly interested in the point of my tax money being spent on this. This just seems like a waste of money. We have better things to do with tax money than point fingers at other countries' IP Laws in how they don't compare to the "USA's totally awesome laws".
The only reason I can think of is to get businesses to setup shop over here than elsewhere. No company can take this report as being objective. This is just childish talk like a boy putting down another boy just to impress a girl; sure BoyA may claim that BoyB failed Math class where BoyA got an A, but that doesn't change the fact that BoyA failed Science class.
Seriously. Let's fix our shit first before calling out someone else's crap just to look good. There are more important things to spend tax money on than this foolishness. Plus, I don't think we have the best IP laws anyways.
Is it legal to talk about the report? If I think about it too hard, who do I owe royalties to? Is there a patent pending on gathering statistics about IP yet?
Copyright was not created back in the days of yore, nor enshrined in the constitution to protect / help the economy.
The express purpose for granting an artist exclusive copy right for a limited period was to encourage the production of more art. (the US constitution is pretty explicit, but so is centuries of common-law before that).
How / why am I having my tax dollar spent on this non-issue. I don't think we have a shortage of art looming, and if we do: I don't see that copyright laws in India are the problem.
Bad IP laws for the US = good IP laws for people.
That way they can use it for toilet paper.
I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.
What?!! 4.3 billion people live in USA, UK and France?
In order words: "4.3 Billion People Live With *Good* IP Laws"
"Canada
Canada will remain on the Priority Watch List in 2010. The United States looks forward to the government of Canada’s implementation of its previous commitments, recently reaffirmed in 2010, to improve IPR protection, and is encouraged by the high level of cooperation between the Canadian and United States governments on IPR matters. However, Canada has not completed the legislative reforms in the copyright area that are necessary to deliver on its commitments. The United States urges Canada to enact legislation in the near term to update its copyright laws and address the challenge of Internet piracy. Canada should fully implement the WIPO Internet Treaties, which Canada signed in 1997. Canada’s weak enforcement of intellectual property rights is also of concern, and the United States continues to encourage Canada to improve its IPR enforcement system to provide for deterrent sentences and stronger enforcement powers. In particular, border enforcement continues to be weak. The United States encourages Canada to provide its border officials with the authority to seize suspected infringing materials without the need for a court order. The United States will continue to follow Canada’s progress toward implementing an adequate and effective IPR protection and enforcement regime, including its progress on actions to address Internet piracy and improve border enforcement."
Ya. We'll get right on top of that.
Though I am pretty sure our Conservative government has bigger problems than your stupid IP laws.
This just in! The US has placed the entire world under arrest!
There's 300+ million people HERE IN THE USE living with crappy IP laws!
We need to fix our problems at home first!
Then some jackass stuffed-shirt can try to tell everyone else how bad they are.
Followed shortly by them telling him to eat a dick.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I thought that this article was going to argue the plight of the US citizens living under bad IP laws. I, as a US citizen, have to live with terrible IP laws and I frankly envy the 4.3 billion other folks who don't have to suffer under this injustice.
I'd happily pay you Tuesday for a biopsy today!
Your bad may be my good.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
It is the rest of the world that is crazy!
What about people like me who think the concept of copyright is flawed, and that copyleft should be a law instead. In that viewpoint, it is the USA who is breaking the 'law'.
Also any law in which the majority of the population is willfully breaking is not only useless, but also undemocratic and unjust. It weakens the authority of the legal system as a whole when you have these type of laws in effect.
Obama et al. are betting their whole economy on shaky imaginary property rights, this will sour on them, they will never be able to enforce their shaky dream on the rest of us, even if they have 100 times as much military.
Dream on big US business!
At least 309 million people live in countries with overly draconian intellectual property protection.
Intellectual Property is intellectual theft.
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
...in Iraq and Afghanistan, we can invade those 4.3 billion people's countries and build them a decent IP system. Just imagine, we'll be greeted as liberators!
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
According to the report, approximately 4.3 billion people live in countries without effective intellectual property
In other news approx 2 billion people sighed that they have to live with insane copyright law dictated by a cartoon mouse and a few industrial, and wish they were living in democraty, where voting would matter, and the voice of the people (demos) would be heard. Sadly they will have to put up with the facist(*) geronto-ploutocraty they live in...
(*) (Fascist as the classic definition of "industry in collusion with authoritative governement")
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
I don't think we have a shortage of art looming, and if we do: I don't see that copyright laws in India are the problem.
Didn't you know? Hollywood stopped making movies when China started bootlegging them. That's why Ghostbusters II and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade never got made. Not to mention Titanic, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, or any Harry Potter movies.
"I don't care about the Constitution!" --Bill O'Reilly, November 17, 2009
pretty sure this should fall into the "is a good thing" category...
80% of the world lives on less that $10 a day, 50% live on less than $2.50 a day
2.5 Billion people don't have access to good sanitation, and nearly a billion use unsafe drinking water. But let's make sure they have good IP laws, yes? Something about 'eating cake' comes to mind while reading this article.
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
Are you sure of that? I remember a time when one got a lot of entertainment from radio and television where the only way we paid was from buying the items they advertised in the programs.
The greatest enemy the media industry faces today is their own greed. They have forgotten the main principle of the capitalist market economy: "KEEP THE CUSTOMER SATISFIED". They have replaced it with one they borrowed from the socialist world: "ACCORDING TO OUR PLANS, WE SHOULD GET THIS MUCH PROFIT"
The very simple fact is that the market has rejected business plans that say people should pay $0.99 for a song, or $17 for a CD, or $15 for a DVD.
Entertainment should be cheaper, much cheaper. I would be dead in a short while without oxygen, or water, or food. But I can subsist much longer without entertainment. With no pressing need, I'm not willing to pay too much for it.
Bring me the $0.10 song, the $1.00 CD or the $1.50 DVD and I'll readily buy them. At higher prices, I will not buy *anything* from the media industry.
All residents of the US are living with bad IP laws.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
When most people on earth have a problem with a law, maybe the law is the problem ? Huh?
Thank you for pointing that out. Though marked -1 Troll, sopssa's posts there appear to me to be his opinions (right or wrong), honestly held and reasonably expressed: not attempts to incite trouble.
Even though this is off topic, I think it is worth mentioning. If not here, where? Moderation affects all Slashdot discussions. If too many mods forget how and why the system works, it can break down. It works reasonably well (unlike most mainstream news sites I have seen) because it focuses on the quality of discussion, not whether one agrees or disagrees. Modding down is meant as a last resort to weed out posts that harm reasoned discourse. It is not supposed to be used merely to express disagreement. It's too late to do much good, but as I seldom spend all my mod points I used some there.
Part of those 4.3 billion people don't care about IP laws because they're more concerned with how they're going to get food and water for the coming day.
Sure there's a few developed countries cited in the report, but the fact is that a lot of the developing world still have peasants (for lack of a better word) for the bulk of their population that generally have no need for IP protection. When you're a farmer miles away from any industrialized city still using oxen to plough your fields, or you're living in the slums of Mumbai, how can IP possibly apply to you?
Aren't the US first on the list of country with bad IP laws?
Dear IP Lobby,
Get Fucked!
On the order of things that the rest of humanity needs, IP law for any given country is in the teens at its best. Death, disease, adequate food supply... You know, the ability for people to survive, and propegate far exceeds your ability to protect Intellectual Property and profits. Once again you assume that without IP law, the world would crumble into nothing. You obviously live in a reality distortion field if you don't think humanity can destroy itself regardless of whether or not you exist.
In essence, Get Fucked!
Sincerely,
The rest of the world
I clicked on your link and thought it was interesting, until I tried to find more about it.
Where is the data? A list that presents:
1) United States ...
2) Sweden
3) Greenland
WTF??? How is Greenland being third in anything relevant? Then (4) Bahamas, (5) Luxembourg, (6) Cyprus, (7) Paraguay...
Finding some parameter that orders the countries of the world in an unusual way, I could do that too.
Instead of doing their work under the name of our country. The citizens of the US don't agree with this garbage, so let's keep things clear.
let's see, the countries with bad IP laws: U.S., France, U.K. ...
will start.
So let me get this straight. The US is saying that billions of people have inadequate copyright "protection"??
Since when did we start caring about IP law that overwhelmingly favors large multinational media cartels?
"We are Microsoft. You shall be assimilated. Competition is futile."
Dear Leaders of My Country,
Do you remember how, when you were young and in grammar school, and didn't have a lot of responsibility, every student seemed to be able to cope with school and even enjoyed it? Do you remember how, as you got older, and your peers got older, more responsibility was expected of you? Do you remember how, as this responsibility was expected, there were some kids in the class that couldn't handle it very well? Do you remember how some of those kids, even though they generally got good grades and got along with teacher at a younger age, started doing poorly in school as it got harder? Do you remember how there was always one or two of those kids that, instead of bucking up and working harder, threw temper tantrums every time something didn't go their way? Remember how, at first, that was intimidating to all of the other kids on the playground that were smaller than the underachievers, but, as time went on, the rest of the kids stopped taking the immature kids seriously? Remember how, if the immature kids became too much of a burden and bully, the other kids would sometimes gang up on the bully and put him in his place through the sheer force of numbers?
Do any of you remember any of that? I do. I remember feeling embarrassed for the immature, incompetent kids as they fussed and screamed and acted out because things weren't going the way they wanted, even though everyone else was moving along just fine. Most of those kids, that I knew, are now alcoholics or dead because they couldn't cope with a dynamic reality.
Do you think there is a lesson to be learned from those days back in school?
Sincerely,
A Terribly Embarrassed United States Citizen.
Motorcycles, Robots, Space Gossip and More!
This isn't the US doing it, it's many governments. They find it convenient to use secret international treaty negotiations to achieve things that people wouldn't vote for voluntarily. They just come back from their negotiations and say "the Americans/Germans/French/Chinese/... forced us to". European governments portray the US as some kind of evil imperialist power that they can't resist, American politicians portray Europeans as pinko commie liberals that rob the US blind, and politicians in China, India, and Africa portray Europe and the US as murderous ex-colonialists. It's the politics of hate and fear by which politicians manage to retain power.
A lot of the copyright insanity originates in Europe. The US at least has fair use, first sale, and reproductions don't create a new copyright; in Europe, you get none of that. Europe has more than 500 million people and an economy that's bigger than that of the US. If it didn't want ACTA, ACTA wouldn't happen.
Hey, government. Yeah, that's right, I'm talking to you, the guys that I voted for or against. That's right, I'm a U.S. citizen, and you're representing me to the world when you say things like this.
Come closer, I have something to tell you. Closer. There you go. It's real simple.
Copyright should last for 15-20 years, renewable once. It's a civil matter if someone violates copyright; the author can go after them for damages in court.
That's it. That's all you need to ensure a great deal of creative effort on the part of "authors" whose interests you claim to represent. This 95 years, or lifetime plus 70 years stuff, it's horseshit. With these ridiculous laws that you have let corporations buy from you, nothing created since I was born will enter the public domain before my sons have both grown old and died. There is plenty of impetus to innovate and create without locking up ideas for centuries. You do realize that the end result is that giant corporations will own the rights to just about all ideas -- there are only so many ways to tell a story, and eventually giant corporations will control enough of them that nobody will be able to publish anything new without sounding kinda similar to something a giant corporation owns the rights to.
So seriously, cut it out. These laws are bullshit. They need to stop. You are hurting the U.S., and hurting the world by doing this.
That's all.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
it is the very concept of personal property let alone possessing one's thoughts .. that is one of the ruling classes greatest tools of control over the rest of humanity .. as it is one of if not the main progenitor of a ruling class .. that and the RIGHT to control the thoughts and actions of others .. to think of oneself as greater than GOD .. for though we are told that there maybe consequences after the fact .. not even GOD tells me what i can and cannot do while i am alive ..
i do not in truth even own my body .. as my cells can mutiny if i do not respect their sovereignty or allow them to come into contact knowingly or unknowingly with a mutagenic substance or environment ..
the concept of owning my thought .. my ideas .. should be laughable to any truly free thinking individual ..
i for one .. from personal experience .. know that to a greater or lesser degree we are almost all capable of intercepting the thoughts and feelings of others .. we simply deny it because of it's implications .. the idea that anyone individual is the original source of an idea or thought .. and thus it owner is meaningless .. however it is very convenient and useful for those who believe they own the world and have the right to possess it and its resources .. which include the working class .. the other 98% ..
the three main concept that are used to control humanity and which must be rejected if the true meaning of democracy .. individuals being in control of their own lives .. is ever to manifest on planet earth during the course of human history .. are the concepts of political boundaries and borders .. written codified laws .. and organized religions .. as these are the three main tools that have been used to divide .. conquer and control humanity .. by the ruling class .. the force and source of EVIL on earth ..
we are on the verge of developing technologies that will allow the reading of an individuals thoughts .. and may already have the technologies to control the thought of individuals .. some of which are quite old and well studied ..like introducing high concentrations of fluoride into the drinking water ..
and others ..
The Sound of Silence is a military-intelligence code word for certain psychotronic weapons of mass mind-control tested in the mid-1950s, perfected during the 70s, and used extensively by the “modern” US military in the early 90s, despite the opposition and warnings issued by men such as Dwight David Eisenhower.
This mind-altering covert weapon is based on something called subliminal carrier technology, or the Silent Sound Spread Spectrum (SSSS) (also nicknamed S-Quad or “Squad” in military jargon). It was developed for military use by Dr. Oliver Lowery of Norcross, Georgia, and is described in US Patent #5,159,703 — “Silent Subliminal Presentation System” for commercial use in 1992.
and this one .. HSS .. a lot if S's in this shit .. http://www.directionalsound-usa.com/hss/ Hypersonic sound speakers .. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-05-19-hss_x.htm .. you can not even log into www.atc.com .. the parent company wi
US says 4.3 Billion people live in countries not yet in IP thrall to US corporations
FTFY.
They're using "protection" as in "protection racket" - say, that's a nice economy you've got there... 'be a shame if anything ... happened ... to it.
Is the idea of these that laugh at IP laws less right than the idea these that think intellectual property is sacred? why? I am not a proponent of relativism, but here is see just two options, two design decisions for different cultures, no one is better than the other. It would be.... wrong.. for USA to force his view on other cultures.
-Woof woof woof!
***According to the report, approximately 4.3 billion people live in countries without effective intellectual property protection***
You mean that there are 4.3B people on this planet who aren't obligated to pay royalties whenever they sing Happy Birthday? How sad. However will they survive?
You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
4.3 billion people are free from patent trolls
The US is a Republic, not a Democracy. I live in the US and democracy has NOTHING to due with the IP laws here. I've never been asked to vote on any of them. I write to my elected officials and people who are running to determine whether they support laws in the way I want or not. They usually respond quickly if we're on the same page and slowly, if at all, when they disagree. Sadly, the flaw in our system is that a 3rd party can't win unless both the other 2 parties REALLY screw up.
If a senator gets $600,000 for a campaign, perhaps $100,000 comes from individuals. The rest is from corporations, special interest, and industry groups. So, that means what the people want isn't the top priority for our elected officials. I guessed at the amounts, so don't hold them as accurate. Until only real people who can vote in the election are the only contributors allowed, we will get more of the same.
I'm not happy with the laws around IP in the USA and even if I could be elected to congress, senate or the Presidency, I wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it. Further, I've be thrown out after 1 term.
Unless you suggesting they are stupid sheep not using their democracy to change things.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Nobody will think bombs can solve international IP mess :D
http://opencm3.net, http://www.nongnu.org/gm2/
Isn't that just over one person per IPv4 address?
Are those living in tyranny without the safeguard of sufficient imaginary property rights!
Never mind protected civil liberties: the new fight is for imaginary liberty!
If you fuck 4 billion people, then after some time there probably would be 6 billion people, which will only make the problem worse! Make war, not love!
Reminds me of the story of the proud mother watching her son march with his regiment who said "All those other soldiers are marching out of step, but not my Johnny!"
Loose lips lose spit.
Yes, exactly. That is why the USA should immediately invade the rest of the world and do a regime change in all countries except Africa south of the Sahara (which apparently doesn't matter).
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
4.3 billion people live with bad copyright laws? I thought there were only about 300 million Americans. Where are they getting this 4.3 billion figure from? This reminds me of when I was in the Army, and some news paper ran a story which stated that soldiers were morally bankrupt, because a survey they did said too many of us thought it was okay to torture someone for information if that information would save American lives. I sent a letter to the editor, (never published, of course) stating using mostly the same language as the original article, tweaked slightly, of course, that the owners of the newspaper were intestinally bankrupt for lacking the balls or brains it would take to acknowledge that sometimes you have to slap someone around if we know he is a bad guy, and has information that could prevent some of the good guys from dying. What a bunch of fcuking pussies. Someone should organize the Great American Buyout. A boycott, if you will. For a week, let's say, anyone who has ever "infringed" doesn't buy anything from the Mafiaa, neither R nor MP. We get everyone to agree not to buy their siht, watch any movies at theaters, etc. Let them know we are in charge, not them. Also, we should start a letter writing campaign to anyone in our govt. meeting with slobbiests of these guys, and let them know if they take money from them, it will be seen-to that they will NOT get to keep their jobs.
The real thing we have to worry about is the fatwa gap, never mind the IP gap.
There are billions of people all over the world living in jurisdictions where their clergy have not issued fatwas for generations. You will be surprised to learn that it happens in the developed world, too. The Episcopalian Church in the US is one of the worst offenders in this respect, it seems not to have issued any fatwas since the Revolution. We need to act now to remedy this desperate situation and to restore the feeling of certainty that a robust fatwa regime would give to these troubled flocks.
And in the meantime, we need to be very careful in how we conduct ourselves in regard to these fatwa deficient countries. We should not get contaminated by their insecure, rootless, fatwa deficient moral wanderings.
Thanks to the OP for drawing this general problem of the lack of robust cultural norms to our attention, a pity that he got diverted to one of the smallest and least problematic examples of it.
I think Capitalism will solve these global issues via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequence
I'd like to buy homeland for our 10 million people. http://twitter.com/mahadiga
If you think that everyone is crazy except you, it might be time to see a shrink...
From what I can see, every other country (in a majority) do not agree with the USA, so the question is "Who is out of step?". If I take the IP Laws to it's conclusion, you will eventually pay for internet connections the way you pay for electricity. And every topic you look at will have a charge. No, it is not DRM, but greed. The USA, when seen from an outside continental non USA view is that the USA makes life impossible for developers and new applications, because the laws and the patents are controlled by a few. The few will make you PAY and PAY and PAY. By the way, Subtract 4.3 billion from the total earth population, and what you have left is the population of you know which countries, one of which is China Thank Gd I don't have to suffer the US restrictions on my access to information.
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada