What a load of defeatist bullshit.
Have you ever once even *tried* to talk to the people in your congressional office?
If you believe in this, then go fight for it. Take fifteen minutes out of your day and write an email or pick up the phone. And if you lose, *then* you can come back and whine about how the system doesn't work. But too many people bitch and moan and don't do anything. Do something!
"Why on earth should I have to be cool with the idea of someone re-packaging or re-interpreting something I've done artistically? If I choose to allow that to happen, that's one thing. But, to assume that I should be forced to do so is a little one sided, in my opinion."
Guess what? It's not up to you, Individual Artist, and never was, and never will be. Whether you are "cool" or "not cool" with it is entirely beside the point. Good artists borrow; great artists steal. It's cliched because it's the absolute truth.
You can, of course, sue to get your Tasty Monies. That's the essence of copyright, and all well and good. But if the derivative work sucks, then there are likely no Tasty Monies to be had -- and if the derivative work doesn't suck, then you may be forced to face the notion that a transformative derivative work is actually art in its own right! Hope your ego can hold up to that notion.
Trent Reznor wasn't cool with Johnny Cash performing Hurt. Doesn't matter now, does it?
Spoken like a professional translator.
"Red Hat has commited not to sue. So what? Does that mean that they'll remain true to whatever they said?"
Yes, actually, because of the legal principle of estoppel by representation of fact, also known in American law as "equitable estoppel". To wit:
"In general, estoppel protects an aggrieved party, if the counter-party induced an expectation from the aggrieved party, and the aggrieved party reasonably relied on the expectation and would suffer detriment if the expectation is not met."
Red Hat, with its patent promise, induces an expectation: that Red Hat will not sue an open source developer for patent violations. If Red Hat then violates that expectation, a judge would basically throw out any such lawsuit immediately on grounds of estoppel.
Were the people who modded this "informative" lazy, or just pushing the joke?
Me too. Worth every penny.
Right. Which is why Cisco is doing so poorly, even though they routinely lay off their bottom 5%.
We already "make" students go to schools in order to turn them into good citizens.
This may or may not be the best idea ever -- but let's be clear: we have been making kids do things they don't want to do, by law, for many years now.
The end of labor is to gain leisure.