i have a theory about this dispute over exactly what constitutes fair use of intellectual property. i think there are generally two types of smart people in the world. the first type is the geek. that's most of us. we're the smart people who are technologically/mathematically inclined. the people who took up computer science, engineering, physics, etc. at a college like MIT or caltech. we enjoy using technology in clever ways.
the other kind of smart person is less technologically inclined. they're not geeks but they're still smart. they're the kind of people who take up english lit, business, economics, political science, law, etc at someplace like harvard, yale, or oxford. they enjoy developing their careers and making lots of dough.
the cause of the problem, i think, is that the spheres of influence of these two groups are starting to overlap. geeks have always enjoyed control of the technological system, which no one else understands. the other kind of smart person has dominance over virtually everything else, the financial, entertainment, judicial side of our society. because they perceive our technological tinkering as a threat to their way of doing business they have tried/and are trying to exert a greater amount of control on the technological sphere than they have tradionally possessed.
of course, us geeks resent that. that's why we resent the mpaa, the riaa, the dcma, and the other bulldogs of the ip protection movement.
just my two cents.
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i have a theory about this dispute over exactly what constitutes fair use of intellectual property. i think there are generally two types of smart people in the world. the first type is the geek. that's most of us. we're the smart people who are technologically/mathematically inclined. the people who took up computer science, engineering, physics, etc. at a college like MIT or caltech. we enjoy using technology in clever ways. the other kind of smart person is less technologically inclined. they're not geeks but they're still smart. they're the kind of people who take up english lit, business, economics, political science, law, etc at someplace like harvard, yale, or oxford. they enjoy developing their careers and making lots of dough. the cause of the problem, i think, is that the spheres of influence of these two groups are starting to overlap. geeks have always enjoyed control of the technological system, which no one else understands. the other kind of smart person has dominance over virtually everything else, the financial, entertainment, judicial side of our society. because they perceive our technological tinkering as a threat to their way of doing business they have tried/and are trying to exert a greater amount of control on the technological sphere than they have tradionally possessed. of course, us geeks resent that. that's why we resent the mpaa, the riaa, the dcma, and the other bulldogs of the ip protection movement. just my two cents.