Comment Wait a second... (Score 2) 276
. . . Now I don't like the way the music industry treats musicians and overcharges for CDs anymore than anyone else on Slashdot. But they are the ones who have invested the money into promoting and recording music and without them we would never even know of the existance of the music groups we love. If musicians really wanted their music to be "free" for all to listen to and distribute they would release them as mp3's on a public webiste (as some have). Now whether they have contracts which the industry that prevent them from doing so, well thats their fault.
Yes, its true that many unenforcable laws exist due to the changing nature of the world ie. the internet. But we can't blame the government for trying to enforce these laws.
The point is that copying and publically distributing music, like copying and distributing books or any other copywrited material, the way it is today, is _wrong_ and _illegal_. Whether the music industry can enforce these laws is beside the point. I admit that I have downloaded mp3's and I have pirated software, but I at least acknowledge the fact that I am stealing when I do so.
Culure has nothing to do with this. The fact that it is so much easier to copy CDs, mp3's, movies, books, etc. does not make it anymore legitimate. We can lobby for laws to be change, for musicians to release music freely without going through the music industry, but right now we are breaking laws
Likewise free speech has _nothing_ to do with this. The government is not preventing us or anyone from saying what we want. They are simply trying to protect the rights of the musicians and the music industry to "own" their own "speech" - their own music.
What can we do? Well, we can work through the systems to get laws changed. We can support musicians who choose not to sell their music through traditional channels. But as long as we want to hear music, see movies, and read books that are promoted through "large corporations" today we must play by their rules.
As for Thomas Jefferson, there are _a lot_ of things he said that we don't follow today. Remember that he believed that the USA would be a nation of mostly independent farmers. The USA today is very different.
The answer to who owns ideas is:
The person who thought up the idea does.
The inventor who patented it does.
The author who wrote the book does.
The mucisian who wrote the music does.
And if any of the above has chosen to sell it
through a large corporation, the corparation does. "We" don't.
Yes, its true that many unenforcable laws exist due to the changing nature of the world ie. the internet. But we can't blame the government for trying to enforce these laws.
The point is that copying and publically distributing music, like copying and distributing books or any other copywrited material, the way it is today, is _wrong_ and _illegal_. Whether the music industry can enforce these laws is beside the point. I admit that I have downloaded mp3's and I have pirated software, but I at least acknowledge the fact that I am stealing when I do so.
Culure has nothing to do with this. The fact that it is so much easier to copy CDs, mp3's, movies, books, etc. does not make it anymore legitimate. We can lobby for laws to be change, for musicians to release music freely without going through the music industry, but right now we are breaking laws
Likewise free speech has _nothing_ to do with this. The government is not preventing us or anyone from saying what we want. They are simply trying to protect the rights of the musicians and the music industry to "own" their own "speech" - their own music.
What can we do? Well, we can work through the systems to get laws changed. We can support musicians who choose not to sell their music through traditional channels. But as long as we want to hear music, see movies, and read books that are promoted through "large corporations" today we must play by their rules.
As for Thomas Jefferson, there are _a lot_ of things he said that we don't follow today. Remember that he believed that the USA would be a nation of mostly independent farmers. The USA today is very different.
The answer to who owns ideas is:
The person who thought up the idea does.
The inventor who patented it does.
The author who wrote the book does.
The mucisian who wrote the music does.
And if any of the above has chosen to sell it
through a large corporation, the corparation does. "We" don't.
