I guess Paul Krugman is taking a break from writing about something he knows little about --- like working for a living. In case you don't know, Krugman likes to write about how good it is when other people's labor is exploited. He has a webpage -- check it out. If Krugman wants to see the already-massive effects of the coming information economy, he can take a stroll through the midwest and look at the unemployment and baby boomer crisis occuring from the loss of steel and auto manufacturing. But Krugman is far too busy writing capitalist masturbation.
Wow, its going to be just like Star Trek. But instead of a humanitarian mission of exploration, we'll have a bargain-basement search for the lowest, lowest prices in the universe! Yeah!
Maybe now Radio Shack won't charge for their catalogs.
Hey, all right! Can anyone think of some more purely scientific endeavors that can be ruined be corporate involvement/takeover? I'm going IPO with my new business to sell print ads in elementary school textbooks. Maybe we can start selling ad space on artificial limbs?
Amateur science is becoming the only real science. Now if only we can figure out a way to expropriate some superconducters...
First, a quick note: make sure to copy the link into your browser for this article. Slashdot-baiting is for real and should not be encouraged.
I have been watching as so-called open source "leaders" have been speaking out against Napster, including Bruce Perens and now Linus. Of course, there is good reason for this: GPL and licensing is the only thing preventing Microsoft Linux 2000.
But the copyrights-good/piracy-bad dichotomy ignores the real issues at stake here. People are not downloading Metallica MP3s because they are consciously disobeying copyright law. They do it because they don't care about ripping off Metallica. Neither do I. Nor do I care about ripping off the RIAA or just about anyone who is advantaged by the major label industry's position as cultural overlord.
Ignoring the context will lead you down the napster-bad path. For years, the major label industry has suppressed and ripped off musicians, consumers, small businesses. They are a key player in Homogenous Media, Inc., owner and operator of every mainstream media outlet in the world. The major label industry has controlled the American cultural landscape for decades, and every attempt to usurp that hierarchy, be it punk, rap, hip-hop, etc is co-opted and turned into a superficial reflection of movements that actually meant something. Hip-hop was once a revolutionary cultural force... now it is just a chance to negatively stereotype black males, all day, every day, live on your MTV.
So, giving respect to copyrights which are forged in good faith and the public good (i.e. GPL) is definitely something to honor --- but not just because the federal government tells us to. Protecting the precious few bucks that Metallica is losing is not a good faith effort and it sure as hell is not in the public good's interest. The only regret is that the MP3 revolution can still make money for major labels... I won't be happy until their archaic power is utterly destroyed and the entire industry is in ruins. Then we can dance on their graves.
My question is of a personal nature. Since most of the world is comprised of people who will work until the day they die in order to keep paying bills, how easy is it to forget what life was like before celebrity-dom? In other words, if you are a megamillionaire, what do you care if someone who makes $300/week gets your tape for free rather than pay $17 for it? Many rock stars/rap stars today talk about keeping it real, but suing your fans because they are trading tapes of your stuff? Do you feel like you have lost touch with the "common person"?
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I guess Paul Krugman is taking a break from writing about something he knows little about --- like working for a living. In case you don't know, Krugman likes to write about how good it is when other people's labor is exploited. He has a webpage -- check it out. If Krugman wants to see the already-massive effects of the coming information economy, he can take a stroll through the midwest and look at the unemployment and baby boomer crisis occuring from the loss of steel and auto manufacturing. But Krugman is far too busy writing capitalist masturbation.
Wow, its going to be just like Star Trek. But instead of a humanitarian mission of exploration, we'll have a bargain-basement search for the lowest, lowest prices in the universe! Yeah!
Maybe now Radio Shack won't charge for their catalogs.
Hey, all right! Can anyone think of some more purely scientific endeavors that can be ruined be corporate involvement/takeover? I'm going IPO with my new business to sell print ads in elementary school textbooks. Maybe we can start selling ad space on artificial limbs?
...
Amateur science is becoming the only real science. Now if only we can figure out a way to expropriate some superconducters
First, a quick note: make sure to copy the link into your browser for this article. Slashdot-baiting is for real and should not be encouraged.
... now it is just a chance to negatively stereotype black males, all day, every day, live on your MTV.
I have been watching as so-called open source "leaders" have been speaking out against Napster, including Bruce Perens and now Linus. Of course, there is good reason for this: GPL and licensing is the only thing preventing Microsoft Linux 2000.
But the copyrights-good/piracy-bad dichotomy ignores the real issues at stake here. People are not downloading Metallica MP3s because they are consciously disobeying copyright law. They do it because they don't care about ripping off Metallica. Neither do I. Nor do I care about ripping off the RIAA or just about anyone who is advantaged by the major label industry's position as cultural overlord.
Ignoring the context will lead you down the napster-bad path. For years, the major label industry has suppressed and ripped off musicians, consumers, small businesses. They are a key player in Homogenous Media, Inc., owner and operator of every mainstream media outlet in the world. The major label industry has controlled the American cultural landscape for decades, and every attempt to usurp that hierarchy, be it punk, rap, hip-hop, etc is co-opted and turned into a superficial reflection of movements that actually meant something. Hip-hop was once a revolutionary cultural force
So, giving respect to copyrights which are forged in good faith and the public good (i.e. GPL) is definitely something to honor --- but not just because the federal government tells us to. Protecting the precious few bucks that Metallica is losing is not a good faith effort and it sure as hell is not in the public good's interest. The only regret is that the MP3 revolution can still make money for major labels... I won't be happy until their archaic power is utterly destroyed and the entire industry is in ruins. Then we can dance on their graves.
... who are rabid about gun control as the solution to all the problems of poverty and violence:
When guns are outlawed, only cops will have guns.
My question is of a personal nature. Since most of the world is comprised of people who will work until the day they die in order to keep paying bills, how easy is it to forget what life was like before celebrity-dom? In other words, if you are a megamillionaire, what do you care if someone who makes $300/week gets your tape for free rather than pay $17 for it? Many rock stars/rap stars today talk about keeping it real, but suing your fans because they are trading tapes of your stuff? Do you feel like you have lost touch with the "common person"?