Your post is very thoughtful.
You are right about exclusivity, that is a pretty fundamental difference. But even so, it's not the one that necessitates the monopoly institution. The reason is: the first copy still commands a higher price than every subsequent copy. That is how artists can (and, imho, should) make money, and that is a sufficient incentive to create. Copyright is an unnecessary evil; not a great evil, but a somewhat major annoyance and an overhead on all art production.
In practical terms, I totally agree with you: our first priority today should be to take a moderate political position and to reduce terms to sensible levels. We can do so gradually over the next decade or two. In the end, a term of under 2 years would be great, and anything over 5 is just plain overkill. Make that retroactive (apparently, it is OK for extending the term). This will create an entire new world of free culture, while giving big players a cushion as they adjust their business process.
PETA could demand it
Gagh! Who the fuck cares what those militant sociopaths think? Let them stew in their own juices. They're as fundamentally psychotic as the Scientologists
All it would take for PETA to start attacking anyone that tries to mass-produce vat-grown meat is for some researcher somewhere to "prove" that said lumps of flesh have feelings (unlike the leaders of PETA, who for all intents and purposes are conscienceless.)
Yes, that is how unions start out. Most unions *used* to be that way in the US as well. People have good reason to moan about US unions now though, and it's *you* who has no knowledge of how US unions work.
That's why contracts with big, faceless, corporations are full of clauses that ultimately allow the corp. to do what they want. They do things like say that the agreement can be changed at any time by VM, and that you agree to be bound by documents other than just the contract, like terms and conditions, acceptable usage policies, etc..
I think VM will have made sure they covered their arses this time, after the Phorm bullshit.
Couldn't they just make OSX longer?
Once Apple gets to OS X v.10.9.9, they'll be going hexadecimal with the next version: OS X v.B.0.
The best things in life go on sale sooner or later.