You are a very foolish person. Commercialization of the Internet is the greatest motivator for progress. Without commercialization, we might very likely not have 56k modems, DSL or Cable Modems, MP3s or numerous other technological advances that have made life more fun and interesting. Who knows what future advances will be seen, that would be completely obliterated without the ability to profit from them.
I hope everyone realizes that intellectual property only exists because of government. Without government, there would be no intellectual property.
I also hope everyone realizes that over the last few decades, the length of time sometime remains protected by copyright has been expanded multiple times, and is now 75 years after the death of the creator of the copyrighted work. Essentially, Disney and other content providers don't want Mickey Mouse et al to fall into the public domain.
But falling into the public domain is the entire point of copyright law! The reason that intellectual property exists is so it can eventually be made available to the general public. But the large corporations, using the power of government, keep changing those rules to benefit themselves. If they had left those laws at 20 years post death, I wouldn't have an issue. As it is, the companies are using government to artificially extend their monopolies.
Oh, and by the way, if you feel (and I imagine that many Objectivists might) that copyright laws should be absolute (i.e they exist, permanently and forever), think about this:
a) every time you whistle a tune, you are stealing from the musician and the writer.
b) every time you listen to music in your head, you are stealing from the musician and the writer.
c) every time you sing "twinkle twinkle little star", or "ABC", you owe Mozart's estate whatever license fee they wish to charge.
d) Quoting from Atlas Shrugged in your.sig is theft with a license from Ayn's estate.
e) Song samples are illegal w/out a license from the original owner
f) Parody is illegal w/out a license from the original owner
The list goes on. Intellectual property is not like normal property - it is an aberration, created by government and, ultimately, abused by government. It gave Ayn Rand a living, but it is ultimately a tool of the looters.
Slashdot Mirror
I'd include email, but that was already invented (although I doubt he knew about it)
You are a very foolish person. Commercialization of the Internet is the greatest motivator for progress. Without commercialization, we might very likely not have 56k modems, DSL or Cable Modems, MP3s or numerous other technological advances that have made life more fun and interesting. Who knows what future advances will be seen, that would be completely obliterated without the ability to profit from them.
I hope everyone realizes that intellectual property only exists because of government. Without government, there would be no intellectual property. I also hope everyone realizes that over the last few decades, the length of time sometime remains protected by copyright has been expanded multiple times, and is now 75 years after the death of the creator of the copyrighted work. Essentially, Disney and other content providers don't want Mickey Mouse et al to fall into the public domain. But falling into the public domain is the entire point of copyright law! The reason that intellectual property exists is so it can eventually be made available to the general public. But the large corporations, using the power of government, keep changing those rules to benefit themselves. If they had left those laws at 20 years post death, I wouldn't have an issue. As it is, the companies are using government to artificially extend their monopolies. Oh, and by the way, if you feel (and I imagine that many Objectivists might) that copyright laws should be absolute (i.e they exist, permanently and forever), think about this: a) every time you whistle a tune, you are stealing from the musician and the writer. b) every time you listen to music in your head, you are stealing from the musician and the writer. c) every time you sing "twinkle twinkle little star", or "ABC", you owe Mozart's estate whatever license fee they wish to charge. d) Quoting from Atlas Shrugged in your .sig is theft with a license from Ayn's estate.
e) Song samples are illegal w/out a license from the original owner
f) Parody is illegal w/out a license from the original owner
The list goes on. Intellectual property is not like normal property - it is an aberration, created by government and, ultimately, abused by government. It gave Ayn Rand a living, but it is ultimately a tool of the looters.