I still think there is too much emphasis on "Idle Americans"; people who make a sometimes indecent "living" for doing nothing useful, however:
Until Techdirt, and being an IP attorney, I was inclined to say "we have problems in IP", and even gave up a very lucrative "standard" IP position to concentrate on small entities (read: people with very little money); but it took Mike to make me realize how bad our IP system, as it exists, is.
I would even favor discarding large sections of it; especially copyright, which is arguably unAmerican as done at the present time.
The report was supported by brain scans showing changes in the brain with prolonged use, and the changes appear to be related to cancer. So, sure, "I believe X, don't confuse me with the facts". There is a basis.
There is a move for younger children to use cell phones, and that is controlled by parents - so, yes, the report will make a difference.
I think it is important to realize that a huge part of the culture of the western world was considered "unimportant" in the middle ages, and was preserved, and eventually returned, to us by Islamic scholars.
We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude.
I have my TV set up for Comcast and for antenna. Lately we have been watching almost exclusively antenna.
Since Comcast started dropping pixels to gain bandwidth for more channels, OTA looks better, and has better content (but only 87 channels - however, we normally watch only 5-6 over a period of time, and the 5-6 we like are OTA (some are not available on ANY Comcast plan!
I am in a difficult position: since I don't "peg" on either extreme, I generally find things I can agree/disagree with in ANY comment.
I do wish that people would get off attacking Mike. He is human, therefore error-prone, but mindless attacks on someone who is providing a public good are unwelcome.
Not that I won't make sharp comments for a REASON; but he deserves to have people wait for a reason rather than simply venting at him.
Again, attacking the messenger, not the sender of the message.
Any communication means can be abused, but if we want to do anything meaningful, we need to go after the perpetrators, not the tools they use.
Ignorance is bliss, but not compelling.
As to Mike Masnick, he provides a valuable service, primarily educational, which a free society requires.
Re: Re: Classic - We dont want rules because we will break them !
I tend to have a (very lonely) middle-of-the-road approach to almost everything; that's why I am an (underpaid) small entity IP attorney; it is the right thing to do IMO.
Now, as to the internet: as Mike has pointed out, it is a communication medium; one that greatly enables commerce and social interaction. Regulating it would be an affront to free speech, not an attack on the people who offend.
I like being in the middle (it's lonely there, but at least there is some semblance of truth there):
Mike Masnick (a journalist, though he feels he isn't qualified for that title) and the internet, news media, etc. are MESSENGERS!
If you don't like the message, you have an issue with the person generating the message (Mike in his editorials, but only rarely) and NOT the MESSENGER!
The internet in particular is a (valuable) messenger.
Glad you asked. Copyright is so completely out of control that I once suggested in a post that perhaps it should be discontinued.
If it is possible to reform it, make it for, say, ten years, like trademark law, but not renewable, and stop this nonsense of automatic copyright.
But it has spun completely out of control, and I despair of doing anything to fix it.
BTW I do not do copyright; I will, if convinced it will not be abused, tell people (no charge) how to register one.
First, I am an IP attorney (not the one dissed in the above, but ....). There is always someone to hate; black people, red people, yellow people, doctors (when I was a kid), auto mechanics, Jews, Nazis, "Communists (where the meaning is actually "dictators")", attorneys, ????
We don't gain anything by that - if someone does evil, then we disapprove (for some, "hate"), if not, we sound somewhat demented by mindlessly attacking "them", whoever that is.
Second, while some people are trying to work out their own problems by blaming others, at least be fair about it. I "burn" Mike Masnick a lot (and some of my attorney friends), but overall, Mike, and some of the attorneys I know, are doing a great job, and while I will continue to point out where I feel they are wrong, I respect what they do and are.
I believe Mike Masnick's contention is (almost) the same as mine, though being an IP attorney, I am obviously a little more on the side of IP.
Mike, I believe, sees that IP has, or may have, a place in our world, but we join in believing that, as it is presently
(mis)applied it is bad.
Think actual reform, not band-aids on a failed system.
Re: Response to: Anonymous Coward on May 28th, 2011 @ 12:51pm
Because they were leaving a dictatorship, not a social system like communism, capitalism, or ???; all of which have problems, but unrelated to the opposing problem of a despotic dictatorship.
I might point out that anything can be used for "nefarious behavior". Water can be used to drown someone; should we deny people to freely access water?
Thomas Jefferson (I think it was him) said, in effect: "A free and enlightened populace is a requirement for democracy" (something like that).
The Internet allows enlightenment like no other medium (so, in today's world of "welfare for the wealthy" and control by a minority, the Internet is the "greatest enemy").
First, I think I read that M$ had offered/would offer dramatically reduced rates in P.R.China???
Even so, I side with the Chinese on this. If M$ couched it in terms of trying to offer a better product/jobs in China/something, the Chinese (PR China), who I have found to be fair minded, might try to comply - but unlike the US, heavy-handed "rights" that make no sense won't fly there.
AND, let's get off the "communism = evil" nonsense, ala Joe McCarthy, "dictatorships = evil" not social systems.
None of your readers will remember, but at one time medical doctors became irrationally protective - one incident was so gross that it should have resulted in criminal prosecution, but there was a similar "conspiracy of silence" as we now see in dentists.
Justice Cardozo broke up that network, and the quality of medical care has increased enormously, partly due to the good Justice.
We need the same thing with dentists.
So long as we have the worst Supreme Court EVER, the lower courts will fall in line (they really don't have a choice) and our government will abuse that fact.
Excellent article!
The only thing I can add is that in more permissive societies, such as Polynesia, sex crimes are almost unknown (and when they do occur, are by people foreign to the culture, so far as I know). At the same time, I have known a lot of Polynesians (and people from other permissive societies, and they don't show many of the problems we have (shootings, etc.).
In fact, the more uptight the society, the more "Jack the Rippers", violence, savagery (though that is not entirely a cause and effect matter; sometimes less savagery leads to a more permissive society, not the other way around).
Excellent article, and I think it would be appropriate to extend it to ALL "big business" or "defensive" IP, not just
the eternal abuse of copyright!
I know small entity IP (maybe not copyright, which I don't do, but...) is useful both the individual and for the common good. I have looked into the matter extensively (intending to become an electrician, which I am also very good at, if not....), and I have IMO incontrovertible facts supporting that. Of course, I realize that today, people make up their mind, and after arriving at some prejudiced viewpoint are interested only in "facts" supporting their prejudices Take the people who think entertainment is important, rather than just entertaining and lucrative ;>(.
Your points are good, and these are important considerations.
However, in the long term, business and personal freedom depend on consistency and certainty. Business is much more efficient and robust with uniform laws and uniform enforcement.
If individual countries are allowed to "experiment", they will nearly always, in the long run, fall under the influence of big business and repression. The little guys must band together to face big guys on an equal basis.
On the post: Gwiz's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
Comments
I still think there is too much emphasis on "Idle Americans"; people who make a sometimes indecent "living" for doing nothing useful, however:
Until Techdirt, and being an IP attorney, I was inclined to say "we have problems in IP", and even gave up a very lucrative "standard" IP position to concentrate on small entities (read: people with very little money); but it took Mike to make me realize how bad our IP system, as it exists, is.
I would even favor discarding large sections of it; especially copyright, which is arguably unAmerican as done at the present time.
On the post: Would People Stop Using Mobile Phones If More Evidence Shows Them To Be Carcinogenic?
cell phones and cancer
There is a move for younger children to use cell phones, and that is controlled by parents - so, yes, the report will make a difference.
On the post: How Important Is It To Preserve Our Digital Heritage?
Preserving history
I think it is important to realize that a huge part of the culture of the western world was considered "unimportant" in the middle ages, and was preserved, and eventually returned, to us by Islamic scholars.
We owe them an enormous debt of gratitude.
On the post: Yet Another Company Rigs Up A Silly Technical Setup To Let You Watch Broadcast TV On Your Mobile Device
Do people still watch broadcast TV?
Since Comcast started dropping pixels to gain bandwidth for more channels, OTA looks better, and has better content (but only 87 channels - however, we normally watch only 5-6 over a period of time, and the 5-6 we like are OTA (some are not available on ANY Comcast plan!
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Comments
I do wish that people would get off attacking Mike. He is human, therefore error-prone, but mindless attacks on someone who is providing a public good are unwelcome.
Not that I won't make sharp comments for a REASON; but he deserves to have people wait for a reason rather than simply venting at him.
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Re: Re: We cant let this happen
Any communication means can be abused, but if we want to do anything meaningful, we need to go after the perpetrators, not the tools they use.
Ignorance is bliss, but not compelling.
As to Mike Masnick, he provides a valuable service, primarily educational, which a free society requires.
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Re: Re: Classic - We dont want rules because we will break them !
Now, as to the internet: as Mike has pointed out, it is a communication medium; one that greatly enables commerce and social interaction. Regulating it would be an affront to free speech, not an attack on the people who offend.
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Mike and the Internet
Mike Masnick (a journalist, though he feels he isn't qualified for that title) and the internet, news media, etc. are MESSENGERS!
If you don't like the message, you have an issue with the person generating the message (Mike in his editorials, but only rarely) and NOT the MESSENGER!
The internet in particular is a (valuable) messenger.
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Copyright
If it is possible to reform it, make it for, say, ten years, like trademark law, but not renewable, and stop this nonsense of automatic copyright.
But it has spun completely out of control, and I despair of doing anything to fix it.
BTW I do not do copyright; I will, if convinced it will not be abused, tell people (no charge) how to register one.
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Easy now!
We don't gain anything by that - if someone does evil, then we disapprove (for some, "hate"), if not, we sound somewhat demented by mindlessly attacking "them", whoever that is.
Second, while some people are trying to work out their own problems by blaming others, at least be fair about it. I "burn" Mike Masnick a lot (and some of my attorney friends), but overall, Mike, and some of the attorneys I know, are doing a great job, and while I will continue to point out where I feel they are wrong, I respect what they do and are.
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Re: take a hit, you need it.
Mike, I believe, sees that IP has, or may have, a place in our world, but we join in believing that, as it is presently
(mis)applied it is bad.
Think actual reform, not band-aids on a failed system.
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Re: Response to: Anonymous Coward on May 28th, 2011 @ 12:51pm
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Thomas Jefferson (I think it was him) said, in effect: "A free and enlightened populace is a requirement for democracy" (something like that).
The Internet allows enlightenment like no other medium (so, in today's world of "welfare for the wealthy" and control by a minority, the Internet is the "greatest enemy").
On the post: Smartphones Make People Ignore Commercials Way More Than DVRs
Taking attention away from ads
On the post: Microsoft Blaming 'Piracy' Rather Than Basic Economics For Its Struggles In China
M$ whining about China
Even so, I side with the Chinese on this. If M$ couched it in terms of trying to offer a better product/jobs in China/something, the Chinese (PR China), who I have found to be fair minded, might try to comply - but unlike the US, heavy-handed "rights" that make no sense won't fly there.
AND, let's get off the "communism = evil" nonsense, ala Joe McCarthy, "dictatorships = evil" not social systems.
On the post: Doctors Who Ask Patients To Sign Over Copyright On Any Online Reviews Are Only Harming Themselves
Dentists
Justice Cardozo broke up that network, and the quality of medical care has increased enormously, partly due to the good Justice.
We need the same thing with dentists.
On the post: Think Tank Says DHS Should Stop Laptop Border Searches
Abuse of the Constitution
On the post: Can We Kill Off This Myth That The Internet Is A Wild West That Needs To Be Tamed?
Controlling the Internet
The only thing I can add is that in more permissive societies, such as Polynesia, sex crimes are almost unknown (and when they do occur, are by people foreign to the culture, so far as I know). At the same time, I have known a lot of Polynesians (and people from other permissive societies, and they don't show many of the problems we have (shootings, etc.).
In fact, the more uptight the society, the more "Jack the Rippers", violence, savagery (though that is not entirely a cause and effect matter; sometimes less savagery leads to a more permissive society, not the other way around).
On the post: Waiting 100+ Years For Version 2.0
Evils of Copyright
the eternal abuse of copyright!
I know small entity IP (maybe not copyright, which I don't do, but...) is useful both the individual and for the common good. I have looked into the matter extensively (intending to become an electrician, which I am also very good at, if not....), and I have IMO incontrovertible facts supporting that. Of course, I realize that today, people make up their mind, and after arriving at some prejudiced viewpoint are interested only in "facts" supporting their prejudices Take the people who think entertainment is important, rather than just entertaining and lucrative ;>(.
On the post: New Report: IP Laws Are Crippling The EU Economy
Harmonizing IP laws
However, in the long term, business and personal freedom depend on consistency and certainty. Business is much more efficient and robust with uniform laws and uniform enforcement.
If individual countries are allowed to "experiment", they will nearly always, in the long run, fall under the influence of big business and repression. The little guys must band together to face big guys on an equal basis.
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