A story came out today that a guy in Japan was arrested for sharing some TV shows on BitTorrent. These stories of violations of civil rights in the name of copyright are becoming more frequent – and often in locales we see as fairly progressive (Sweden, France, Japan, etc.). I think a lot of us passively accept intellectual property laws as they are, but we may find that they will begin to affect our work and our art in devastating ways if we don’t question their purpose, and their history. This talk, posted at The Big Idea, by Cory Doctorow is a must-listen. It’s straightforward and addresses the dangers of unreasonable copyright. Doctorow’s thoughts on this issue are disseminated all over the internet, but I think his 45 minute address here is a good summation of the things we should be concerned about.
Thanks John
It’s funny that there is this received image of Japan as having this glamorous, Ghost in the Shell-style anti-cyber-terrorism, but the reality is that this poor unemployed dude is getting nailed for using BitTorrent.
that’s good, john, thanks. good to know it helps just to have easter rabbit CC.
Right, Joe. That’s the other point I wanted to highlight: why it’s important to put that CC license on your own work.