Quote:
Originally Posted by bingle
As a society, we've been handed a genie that can duplicate books, movies, music, and software at our command. And most people don't see asking a genie for their wish to be wrong. The people that profit off of content now have to take into account the effect of the genie on the marketplace.
Because you can't put the genie back into the bottle.
|
It's a matter of education. The problem we have today is that we have a generation of teenagers who have no respect for other peoples' property rights. Unless we're careful, they are going to grow up into a generation of adults who have no respect for other peoples' property, either. I suspect that, in the majority of cases, these childrens' parents don't know what they are up to, and would be horrified if they did know that their children were taking thousands of $ (in many cases much more) worth of other peoples' property without paying for it.
Children need to be taught, both in school and by their parents, that using someone else's intellectual property without paying for it is WRONG.
Before anyone says that this can't be done, there are many examples of the attitudes of society changing over time. 30 years ago in the UK, although drink driving was illegal, it was something which a lot of people did and was socially acceptable, although illegal. Today, virtually everyone regards it as completely unacceptable and welcomes the fact that the courts hand out long driving bans and even prison sentences for anyone caught driving a car under the influence of alcohol. This change in attitude has come about entirely as a result of public education. The same thing could (and should, IMHO) be done concerning having RESPECT (and that's what it is - a matter of respect) for other peoples' intellectual property rights.