Consumer Group Points Out That IP Laws Are Often Anti-Consumer And Need To Be Fixed
from the people-are-realizing... dept
While most people still don't pay much attention to the harm caused by out of control intellectual property law, it does appear that recognition of this issue is growing daily. We often hear the refrain that "intellectual property laws will never change, so why bother pointing out their problems," which is an incredibly defeatist attitude. Slowly but surely, the evidence is mounting, and as we see more cases of situations like Russia's abuse of copyright laws to suppress dissent, people will begin to realize how far gone these laws have become.The latest case of a group recognizing the issue is Consumers International, who have begun a new campaign to point out how intellectual property is quite frequently used in anti-consumer ways, well beyond its stated intention. According to IP-Watch:
Copyright and patent laws "are often misused" for reasons that have "more to do with limiting competition and preventing consumers from making innovative uses of their products" than they do with stopping piracy, global consumer advocacy group Consumers International plans to tell a UN internet meeting today....It's unlikely that this will have much impact initially, but it's hard to deny that more and more people are recognizing the problems of an out of control intellectual property system that has been the result of decades upon decades of regulatory capture.
Consumers International is asking for an amendment of the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection [pdf], which was first adopted 25 years ago, the group said in a press release. Jeremy Malcolm, the Consumers International project director for IP and communications, said that IP rights and human rights have "for too long" been framed as having similar status, when misuse of IP interferes with "freedom of expression, education and participation in cultural life."
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Filed Under: consumers, intellectual property
Companies: consumers international
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What does the consumer gain with IP laws? Nothing.
What does the consumer lose? Plenty. Usually the ability to make backups or often the ability to to even be able to watch/play what he paid for, since the DRM implementation is often faulty and circumventing it can mean legal trouble sometimes.
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Where is the ACLU?
I did a quick search of ACLU on TechDirt, and there were quit a few hits. So maybe things are as bad as I am thinking.
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Re: Where is the ACLU?
Great video, some ACLU members were in the audience and they are noted for their efforts.
I do think IP is inherently unethical. That's not to say it shouldn't exist. I do tend to think that it either shouldn't exist or should be substantially reduced. If it is to exist then it should exist only to the extent that it benefits society and promotes the progress of the science and the arts. Our current system does neither. All existing instances of IP should be justified and hence it must be shown that the benefits from IP justify enacting a moral wrong.
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In *theory*, copyrights and patents are meant to provide additional economic incentive for the creation of new works and the development of new ideas, which then benefit the whole of society.
In practice, as Techdirt has well documented, copyrights and patents are actually now more commonly employed to exploit legacy works and to intimidate legitimate competitors rather than to provide incentives for new developments. However, the fact that copyright and patent law have failed at achieving their original aims doesn't invalidate the fact that those aims were pro-consumer.
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The problem is how to get the politicians off the copyright industry's payroll. Until that happens, nothing will change.
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a good start
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Actually there are two ways. Wait for the labels and collection societies to fail financially, then there is no incentive for the politicians to support them anymore. The second is to fan the flames and cause a backlash for ACTA and similar laws.
The second option is easier because the IP types don't seem to realize their is a limit to how far you can push in one direction. The pendulum is due to swing in the other direction and it will over the next 5-10 years as more of the techno savy younger generation begin pushing back.
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Perhaps somebody should look into how one removes a parasitic organism from its host and then apply a similar solution to remove the MAFIAA and their ilk from society.
I do wonder what would happen if, theoretically, the HQ's of the MAFIAA and those like them were literally destroyed. Or perhaps if some enterprising group of hackers got into their Swiss bank accounts and emptied them out.
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Actually what would work better than draining their bank accounts would be to hack the record labels, MAFIAA and their lobbyists email files and put them on wikileaks.
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Copyright
Hopefully the increasing recognition will lead to a fix, though you have to sympathize with Congress, the real culprits.
I am sure they would like to fix things (or even abolish IP and start over again?), but to remain in Congress takes lots of money, and for most of them, that means selling their souls.
Personally I am sure we need IP in some form, but it is pretty far gone right now, with all the abuse Congress allows.
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rotary phones
The truth is the opposite. Patents permit new firms to compete with established monopolies. Without patents we'd all still be using rotary phones. I gather you still do.
Please see http://truereform.piausa.org/ for a different/opposing view on patent reform.
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