Anomaly
Member
Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 175 |
Okay, this dead horse has been beaten, but I'll throw in a few "closing" comments:
- Law has nothing to do with fair. "Fair," in itself, is a subjective value judgment. A law is nothing more than a decision by a majority of the decision makers. It's impossible for a lawmaker to know enough about everything that he/she has to legislate to make an informed decision. In the case of technology, it moves so fast that not even the advisors can keep up, let alone the lawmakers. So I'm doubtful the law will ever catch up. Sure they could get more or better advisors, but that would just cost more money, which would just mean more taxes or less services, which would ...
- Copyright/trademark/intellectual property law, in particular, is convoluted and confusing. There is a long history of attempts to balance the property rights of the creator vs. the public's right/need for progress. The concept of a copyright lasting a certain period of time was thought to accomplish this balance. After so many years, it was believed that the creator of intellectual property had received his/her "fair" compensation. Then someone else was allowed to benefit from his/her labors and give a benefit to society by taking an idea a step further. However, both sides of the equation are changing. On one hand, creators want all return from a product, not just some. They want complete, perpetual control. On the other hand, society's need for immediate gratification is growing insatiable and also conflicts with this balance. We want the next greatest thing yesterday, not tomorrow, next year or next decade.
- While the DeCSS is new, the concepts aren't. Industry tried to kill things like the audiocassette and the VCR in the past. It's also not always the big guy vs. the little people. Broadcasters and advertisers are trying to fight Tivo and the like, which are owned (at least in part) by giants such as Microsoft and Sony.
- The 1st Amendment (and the rest of the Bill of Rights) only prohibits government entities from restricting your speech/religion/right to assemble/etc. (Ok, this is somewhat simplistic, but fairly accurate). Visorcentral can "censor" what it likes.
- Nothing's black and white; and nothing exists in a vacuum.
- Just because somebody prints something doesn't make it true. This is doubly so on the internet.
- I'm just rambling and can't figure out how to stop, so ....
p.s. I am a lawyer, but that doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about 
|
12-04-2001 04:10 AM
Email This Page to Someone! |
Receive updates to this thread
]