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Pirate Party Releases Book of Pirate Politics

Posted by Unknown on from the entitled-yarr-yarr-end-copyright-yarr dept.

ktetch-pirate writes "If the SOPA/PIPA blackouts were a wakeup call to many people, then the U.S. Pirate Party has released a book that might help explain some of the issues. The book covers issues such as Corporate Personhood, the 4th Amendment, the history of copyright, and how DRM laws are made. There are even cartoons from Nina Paley throughout to add a bit of humor. DRM-free eBook versions are available to download from the book's site, or you can buy a paperback edition from Amazon for ten bucks." The book is under the CC BY-NC-SA, and features essays from the likes of Lawrence Lessig and Rick Falkvinge.

4 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Running through my head... by sonoftheright · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... are thoughts concerning the possible destruction of the universe were I to pirate the Pirate Party's book on Pirate Politics.

  2. Fair day's pay for fair day's work by Kevin+McCready · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hopefully we might one day move towards the revolutionary notion of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. Yes I know it's terribly problematic determining the parameters, but if the principle was accepted we'd be a lot further ahead.

    1. Re:Fair day's pay for fair day's work by Fned · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1) Because it produces no value. Copyright is meant to encourage the creation of new works by rewarding the creator, rewarding the creator is not the end goal. There is some encouragement provided by creators seeing a tiny, tiny percentage of other creators become rich, but that effect is more than nullified by the chilling effect of big media locking down the public domain for ever and ever. Eventually, no one will be able to create anything new without paying someone a fee based on some ancient crap no one except the rights-holder remembers.

      2) Because copyright as it currently stands is incompatible with computers. Copyright seeks to monetize individual packets of information, and individual packets of information inside a computer system have zero value; in fact, individual packets of information in a computer can't even be made to have value without breaking the computer, since all a computer actually does is separate information from permanent media so that you can copy, destroy, or muck about with it at no cost.
      Copies mean nothing in Computerland, only creation and access have value.

  3. Re:...and Slashdot Takes It Down by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Enjoy http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.nosafeharbor.com/get&hl=en&strip=1