Quote:
Originally Posted by zerospinboson
The other issue is what to do with the intuition that 'if you've heard of a <book>, and you are unable to read it because of either Customs or georestriction issues, you are now justified to want to read the <book>. On the one hand, this seems wrong, because of how we are taught to think about product access -- in terms of "sales"/"consumption". On the other -- looked at from the social perspective of being told that someone has a story they would like to tell you -- the intuition that you should be allowed to hear that story seems quite logical. A further problem is created by the suggestion that your 'purchase' somehow matters to the author, as well as to the whole system of creating cultural works. The question is whether your right to share in the story (or piece of music, or whatever) is stronger than the duty to support the author (or the author+system) that supposedly forms a necessary condition for sharing in the cultural expression.
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I would argue that when someone has a story to tell and does
NOT want any money for it, he will then, in today's world, share this story for free on the web on a blog, Youtube video or wherever (or, as in Cory Doctorow's case, leave you the option of getting it for free).
The fact that someone is trying to
sell his story tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the intended nature of the "sharing in the cultural expression" and invalidates pretty much any attempt to read it any other way.
I could, of course, be completely mistaken.
Matt