Quote:
Originally Posted by teh603
This was the whole focus of a DRM thread a while back, IIRC.
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Merely a reminder that "stealing" is not as cut and dried as some believe.
The metaphor issues are dependent upon the values being described. It's not just economic, it's a control issue. I'm the creator and I
control my creations. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.
For example, if it were only an economic issue, one could set up a government (or private) registry of works in existence. You could buy a single user license. That license could be created for
any book or short story, at a fixed rate, and they you could create your own, get it from a publisher or reseller, or download it off any "pirate" site. Show me a license, I'll give you a copy free. You've already paid for it.
No worry about the Google Monster, easier law enforcement. But poof, there goes the control of creators and their intermediaries. And that's not acceptable.
Let me give an example. I want to buy an e-book copy of something really obscure. Say, the Dig Allen pulp book set. The odds of it ever being released as an e-book is somewhere between slim and none (and we shot Slim). I go to the registry, enter the books (there are 6 of them) into the registry, pay the rate for books that length, and I get a number. I can then scan or search the world for a existing copy (fat chance). Perfectly legal. If the copyright police want to search me for illegal downloads, go right ahead, I've got my registry number, I'm legal.
This is similar to the insurance industry. When heirs squabble over an estate, an insurance company pay the money to the court for later settlement. It's called Interpleader. Pay the money to registry and let the creator and the former (or current) intermediaries fight out the split.
But then they'd lose control. They couldn't set pricing, they couldn't control access (out-of-print), there'd be little scope for cheating, and finally, you couldn't make people buy the same I.P. over and over due to DRM. Totally unacceptable.
That's why I don't see any good metaphor for discussing copyright. It's about maintaining control in a world where technology has rendered control unenforceable. With no answer to that, there's no way to create a metaphor...
The license metaphor (and registry) does allow I.P to mimic real property. The license means something, it can be bought or sold, inherited, pledged as collateral, ect. It's also unique, as it is registered. (but somebody knows who I am!!!) Shrug...Welcome to the world of today...