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I think that licences and copyrights are a useful litmus test in the move towards post-scarcity. If the copyright advocates win, you can expect even more artifi
by Pannoniae 3y ago
I think that licences and copyrights are a useful litmus test in the move towards post-scarcity. If the copyright advocates win, you can expect even more artificial scarcity in the future with most people's living standards reduced to something worse than serfdom. If the copyright system can be weakened, then there is a chance that most people will see greater prosperity.
Currently, there is no viable way to access all that information without databases like the Z-Library or scihub/libgen. All those library subscriptions are just a legalised form of extortion, which are usually inaccessible if you aren't affiliated with a university (or not with the right one)
- tokai 3y agoI'm sorry to tell you this but copyright advocates won back in 1886.
- Pannoniae 3y agoNot really, it's fairly easy to find most things on the internet without acquiring them from an official source. It's an open question of what will happen next - if "trusted computing" and the appliance model wins, then you can say goodbye to that. However, that hasn't happened yet, and computers are still open computing platforms. I certainly hope for a future where that doesn't happen.
- nmeagent 3y agoI always think of this quote from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri when these issues come up: "As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master." --Commissioner Pravin Lal, "U.N. Declaration of Rights"