The United States has always been about making money and achieving status. After reading Lessig's article about free operating systems and free media, it made me want to leave America's so-called Democracy for Brazil! I realize that it's probably just exotic idealism, but nevertheless, the rally that he described was at the very least, moving. Gerber's Mash-ups article made American copyright laws seem diabolical and wrong when read in conjunction with Lessig's Utopian description.
While it makes sense that a company should be able to protect their brand name by putting controls on it usage and its successive programs and projects, it doesn’t seem right that the entirety of copyright law today is based on a wording mistake. It seems to me that the limitation on copying something should be lifted if it was indeed not meant to be made into legislation in the first place. The concept of the DRM being able to control very closely all digital media is a terrifying one. Even the amount of control over creative media that we have today is near regime-like status. Imagine adding more copyright control over shared media. Reading a copywritten website without first paying for the rights would be theft.
American’s strive for money and fame is leading to our cultural demise. There is no more folk culture thanks to pop. People don’t think for themselves. Our culture is consumption and complacency and excess. I really enjoyed the last quote from Lessig’s article about how in America there are important people, but in Brazil, everyone is just a citizen. If only we could let go of a bit of our ideology.
****relevant link****
on issues of entitlement:
i posted a picture of myself online and someone took the image and turned it into a lolcat. that's really cool! since i put it up, they're completely entitled to it.
check it out!
June 14, 2007 5:04 PM
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2 comments:
Yeah, it's like the smoking laws. I don't smoke, and I actually have asthma, but since we've banned smoking in public places, who's to say we won't start banning it in
private areas. too? My next door neighbor won't be able to smoke because I have asthma and when the wind blows west I can smell it.
I agree that the desire for money and fame is the driving force of our society. It definitely does stunt cultural growth. I just don't see that changing anytime soon though.
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