4 ms·
The one thing about this topic more infuriating than America's draconian and absurd intellectual "property" law is the vigour with which they force it upon the
by whatyoucantsay 9y ago
The one thing about this topic more infuriating than America's draconian and absurd intellectual "property" law is the vigour with which they force it upon the rest of the world.
This is an area where China is clearly the freer country.
- totalZero 9y agoI'm not sure legalizing IP theft makes a country freer, because the person who owns stolen IP is deprived of the opportunity to profit from his own ideas. This applies to other types of theft too. Would you say that a country where people can legally steal food away from each other is freer than a country where this is not the case?
- deadbunny 9y agoBreaking DRM on a device you own does not imply IP theft.
- CaptSpify 9y agoHow is stealing a physical object at all similar to "stealing" an idea? These are two very different things, and I think the fact that we even call it "theft" and "stealing" is bullshit, because it clearly isn't.
- Armisael16 9y agoSo should Penguin Books be allowed to copy every book published by Doubleday if they give all the copies away for free?
- CaptSpify 9y agoI guess I don't understand the question. If one publisher gives away books for free, should another publisher be allowed to copy it?
- Armisael16 9y agoSorry, let me clarify. Say Doubleday is buying books from authors and selling them in bookstores - the usual model. Should Penguin be allowed to print copies of Doubleday’s books as long as Penguin gives those copies away for free?
- CaptSpify 9y agoI guess I can't think of a reason why they shouldn't be able to. Is there some implication for that which you think would be detrimental?
- Armisael16 9y agoIn this scenario, where Doubleday has set up free-book stands across the street from brick-and-mortar stores, it becomes nearly impossible for Penguin to sell any books to anyone, and thus impossible for Penguin to pay authors for manuscripts. If you could've gotten a free copy of a Harry Potter book the day after it went on sale, would you have paid for it? Do you think there would've been any sequels if this was happening?
- CaptSpify 9y ago> If you could've gotten a free copy of a Harry Potter book the day after it went on sale, would you have paid for it? Yeah, actually. In fact, that's basically what I did (for some of the sequels, not the first book). I don't get why everyone thinks that nobody is willing to pay creators. Kickstarter, Patreon, etc are living proof that people want to pay. We really need to wake up to the fact that distribution for media is basically a solved problem. We don't need gateways who continue to creat artificial barriers just so that their dying industry can try and stay alive.
- isostatic 9y agoIf I open a store next to you and sell things cheaper (or give them away), I'm depriving you of the opportunity to profit?
- rvern 9y agoMost information goods are non-rival, whereas food is not.
- djrogers 9y agoChina has started a pretty widespread and visible crackdown on IP theft, resulting in many arrests. Given the history of human right violations, political prisoners, prison-slave labor etc in China, I think I’d take my chances in the US.