From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S261896AbTD0WWR (ORCPT ); Sun, 27 Apr 2003 18:22:17 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S261899AbTD0WWR (ORCPT ); Sun, 27 Apr 2003 18:22:17 -0400 Received: from krusty.dt.E-Technik.Uni-Dortmund.DE ([129.217.163.1]:1801 "EHLO mail.dt.e-technik.uni-dortmund.de") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S261896AbTD0WWK convert rfc822-to-8bit (ORCPT ); Sun, 27 Apr 2003 18:22:10 -0400 Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 00:34:21 +0200 From: Matthias Andree To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Cc: Larry McVoy , Chris Adams Subject: Re: Why DRM exists [was Re: Flame Linus to a crisp!] Message-ID: <20030427223421.GF27001@merlin.emma.line.org> Mail-Followup-To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, Larry McVoy , Chris Adams References: <20030427183553.GA955879@hiwaay.net> <20030427185037.GA23581@work.bitmover.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT In-Reply-To: <20030427185037.GA23581@work.bitmover.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Sun, 27 Apr 2003, Larry McVoy wrote: > 1) Corporations are threatened when people copy their content and/or > products. The problem you're not seeing is: how much of that "content/products" is taken from other products? > 2) Corporations have a lot of money which they use to get the government > to create laws to protect the corporate interests. So make the last step, abolish elections, they're just show to pretend there were a democracy. The government does not have the right to act in the corporate interests, look at the consitution and see what oath is prescribed. Provided your country is a democracy, officials will have to swear to serve the people and only the people and its good, turn away damage and all that. Lopsided constructs "but the corporations make jobs" are then often used to bully/get bullied into making corporate friendly decisions without checking if they are for the good of the people. > 3) Corporations have a lot of money which they use to create technology > which will remove threats to the corporation. Granted. > 4) The more you inist that you are doing nothing wrong the more motivated > the corporation becomes to stop you. 5) Corporations that make products tailored to the (potential) customers' needs may not have to think about #4 at all. > This isn't a BK thing, we don't have lobbyists in Washington get laws > passed on our behalf. This is my private opinion based on observing > what's happened in the last five years or so. The world is moving more > and more towards a place where IP is the significant source of revenue. IP is not the thing that let society come to life the way it is now. Societies have started to work our way because specializing people and trading goods freed resources that were to the good of everybody. If hunters go hunting not just for themselves, but share their prey and get tools (say, bow and arrow) in return for food, they get more efficient. This hasn't been about intellectual property, but sharing knowledge. What do you think will happen when basic arithmetics become IP? Why do you think basic arithmetics are public knowledge rather than IP? Why do you think it should remain this way -- or changed? If I invent something *really* new, then I'd think granting a patent for like 10 years might be worthwhile (with some exceptions, say for medicine: the state should always have the right to buy out a patent from a corp by covering the development costs and then releasing the patent). Just letting something evolve or tuning something that already exists is not worth a patent -- not even copyright protection (which happens with much of the music nowadays...)