Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
Good point.
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I really don't think it is. People don't 'buy' a movie on DVD and get all shocked that they can't show it to an audience for money ("Why didn't they tell me I was only LICENSING the movie?!?") or 'buy' a copy of MSOffice and act surprised that they're not allowed to burn copies and sell them on ebay.
People understand what it means to 'buy' copies of IP, they don't need extra words on an Amazon button to tell them what they already know plainly well.
What people DO need help with is understanding the particular restrictions that come with some forms of IP, and when some of those restrictions are unfair, or are enforced by technological methods (DRM) or legal methods (DMCA) that do more harm than good, they need a way to ban together effect change.
Renaming a 'buy' button to a 'license" button does none of that, and doesn't tell anyone anything they didn't already know.
It is the quintessential red herring in this issue. I'm sure the DRM companies and publishers would much rather us waste time arguing whether to put "buy" "rent" or "license" on the button, rather than us spending time contacting our reps to effect copyright reform and petitioning to have fair use doctrine clarified and expanded.
So, no, I don't think it's a good point at all.
ApK