Quote:
Originally Posted by tubemonkey
Yeah, it does. The penalties are too high. Outside of that, what else? You have no right to use someone else's work without their permission. How does that stifle innovation?
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I agree on the latter point: Innovation does not have to depend on copywritten works; but obviously there are some areas where it does, at least to some extent (as in the example mentioned in the article), and raises the possibility of important work not being done properly, or at all, if a legal minefield of irregular and unpredictable copyright penalties scares people off.
As for the penalties, it's hard to argue their size. Penalties should be set according to the amount of "punishment" appropriate to the person and the crime... but it's a very subjective thing, since it's relatively impossible to assess actual damages done, or why a certain amount of "punishment" is not enough for one person and too much for another. The EFF and the advocates will have their hands full establishing standardized penalties and rules for setting them.