Posts by Don Christie

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    take our own country as an example. there is only one fat cat here, niel finn, and he's not that fat. there are a lot of round table fat cats though.

    And I don't think anyone disagrees that it would be good to have a notoriously thin occupation made fatter.

    Where we disagree on is finding the best means. It isn't through handing yet more control to a discredited, centralised, outdated distribution system.

    You are asking others to make increasing sacrifices to achieve that the fatter goal. I say there are far far better ways and I believe people like Robin and many others have demonstrated that.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    Simon

    as to why IP cannot evolve into a a right somewhat akin to property

    Applied to my industry (software) *and* artistic work that thought is terrifying.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    robbery, you need to do some Googling on Robin, seriously :-)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    i'm cool with the whole open source peace love and sharing vibe....

    I'll bite.

    From a report written for the EU 2 years ago (sorry, I'll post a link in when I have a bit more time):

    Economic impact of open source software on innovation and the competitiveness of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in the EU

    Some highlights:

    - Although information economy accounts for ~10% of GDP in most developed nations, it accounts in some cases for 50% of their economic growth.

    - The estimated cost of reproducing the quality open source applications currently being used by the EU is around Euro 12 billion. And the code base is doubling every 18-24 months.

    - FLOSS related services are estimated to account for about 1/3rd at all IT services in EU by 2010.

    - EU is using FLOSS to compensate for relatively low ICT investment compared to US to achieve comparable growth in GDP from that sector.

    Here's the thing, we hippies are delivering huge value to the world economy day after day. Unlike the music industry we are not demanding the rest of the world makes sacrifices on our behalf. robbery talks about fairness, constantly. How is it "fair" that our economic contribution is being undermined to support the RIAA and their likes?

    robbery thinks we are hippies but we have not asked for laws to be changed, for privacy to be invaded, for special short term, technical strategies to be enshrined in law under the extremely dubious contention that artists need extra special attention. That is hogwash.

    so long as all society plays the same game, ie open surce gas, land, food, power and internet connection

    Except, once used up the [coal|gas|oil] is used up. How is an idea used up? Once a book is read is it "used up"?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    if mark had just lifted the line virbatim I would have felt differently about it.

    Really? Some of the best songs I know are poems set to music. Some of the best "pop" songs are based class onical riffs.

    Jazz is nothing more than a constant re-work of established cord sequences.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    Still wondering how this is different from normal property rights.

    Can you handle it? Can you make copies out of nothing? In peoples' heads? Can you draw a line around it that everyone can see?

    The differences seem glaring to me.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    What seems to be missing from this conversation is how best to ensure to support artists, writers and so on.

    The most effective help is giving exposure, routes to market. Locally I think of events like the hugely successful Affordable Arts Show, World of Wearable Arts. the Wellington festival, grants and loans to art students and support for art schools such as The Learning Connection.

    The dirty little secret about the stuff in the Copyright Act and the protections demanded by the likes of robbery do next to nothing for the local artist on the one hand but have the potential to do damage to society and other sections of the economy, say nothing of our right to privacy and other freedoms that have been traded away under this dubious pretention.

    This is crazy.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    why? no ones explained why yet. why is it necessary to expire it?

    er, yes we have. Countless times in many different ways. Your comment comes right below one clear explanation by Robin Sheat.

    I am going to be kind and assume deliberate miscomprehension.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    Either way you don't value the work of creatives which is sad

    For sure. I don't believe in deities. But don't be sad for me, I still lead a pretty complete life.

    As far as valuing the work of artists, writers, programmers, film makers and musicians go all I can say is that you are completely and utterly wrong.

    Your nickname and the activities of the Government have far more to do with robbing artists, writers and musicians than anything I have ever seen. That's the crying shame in all this debate. All the good work supporting the arts financially by Helen Clark is being undone. Channels to market are being destroyed and artistic endeavours will never see the light of day. Never mind the adverse impacts on the "knowledge economy".

    Surely we could have done better than this?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    you talk of it likes its a conversation over a cup of tea.

    That's exactly what it is like. How do you differentiate between a "good" idea and a "cup of tea" idea? Your "individual ownership" ring fences everything into a series of mini monopolies. We are talking about means to reproduction here, not physical objects.

    Whilst you might touting the policies of the Libertarianz party not many rational people, whether economists, socialists, or conservatives believe that that approach is a generally good thing. Governments generally bend over backwards to avoid situations where capitalists get to a monopolistic position and when they do get into that position special rules apply to their business.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

Last ←Newer Page 1 68 69 70 71 72 165 Older→ First