Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
I'm afraid that, although no one will want to hear this, the solution will almost certainly be one of more complexity and involvement in the copyright process. Unfortunately, I'm no expert either, so I also cannot enumerate specific answers. But I'm sure they will involve the evolution of technologies like digital watermarks and tracking numbers, probably include access to home systems, and require more involved ID tracking.
Yeah, it'll be tough. Think of what extremes governments have to deal with to fight money counterfeiting, and you'll have an idea how tough this is going to be.
As bad as all this sounds, though, it isn't much more than we already put up with to use our cellphones and cable televisions, buy things with credit cards, drive our cars, travel on a plane, or buy beer. All of these things have become more complex with time, and require multiple instances of ID checking, tracking and verification along the way, most of which were certainly bitched about when they were initiated. But we got used to the rigmarole over time, and we'll get used to the copyright rigmarole, too.
Look at it this way: When it gets to be that complicated, we'll be using our computers to automate the process, and it won't seem that bad at all. Like buying MP3s from iTunes easy.
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Geeez. And you can say that seriously...
The people over at the Pirate Party in the Netherlands (or is that Sweden?) put it in the proper terms: It's not completely impossible to keep having copyrights laws working the way they did before the advent of the digital age. But to do so, you'll need implementing such total surveillance methods over the population that you'll end up living in a totalitarian state.
Let's be clear, even China with its complete disregard of Human Rights hasn't yet been able to 'properly' control the internet (though not from lack of trying). And except when showing off to the Western Powers, they don't give a damn about copyrigths (which would ask for
orders of magnitude more efforts).
Have you read Vinge's "Rainbows End"? The story is nice, but one very interesting aspect is the way copyrights are handled in the book's world - it all comes down to people being allowed to use government certified hardware only(with pre-made backdoors that NSA, Secret Service and the like can use at will). Anything else is prohibited.
That's the kind of things your statement implies, you know?
I believe (and I hope) copyrights are dying, because the alternative is much
much worse.