4 ms·

Can conservatives break the copyright stalemate?

• bediger4000 14y ago
  First, how do you figure that a "copyright stalemate" exists? If a stalemate existed, we'd see legislation going both ways (ratcheting up, and decreasing copyright limits and penalties for infringement). I don't see this, all I see is legislation that increases the time of monopoly, increases the penalties, and changes the penalties from civil to criminal, which is a rather large change. I don't see a stalement, I see the US and other governments promoting copyright/"Intellectual Property" as a permanent monopoly on some ideas, I see the US and other governments giving large amounts of aid to vested interests. I see the US and French governments in particular aiding large corporations by promoting the concept that copying is theft of property. I do see people resisting this encroachment on culture in some minor ways - the resistance to SOPA in the US in particular, and ACTA in Europe. So, I don't see "stalemate". I do see governments seizing on the idea of "ideas as property". I suspect that this happens because property rights are stronger than free speech rights. Governments want "ideas as property" so that they can stuff the Internet self-publishing genie back into the gatekeeper's bottle.