View Single Post
Old 11-17-2012, 02:05 AM   #369
BoldlyDubious
what if...?
BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.BoldlyDubious ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
BoldlyDubious's Avatar
 
Posts: 209
Karma: 750870
Join Date: Feb 2011
Device: paper & electrophoretic
Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady View Post
It's NOT a non-issue. It's a major issue. It's a classic case of blaming the victim. Other people have no right to steal from me, even if I leave my doors unlocked, even if I'm careless, even if I flaunt my possessions around them. Yet you blithely put the onus on the legitimate owner.
I think the disagreement between us on this point will never disappear, however maybe I have not made myself clear on it.
With my proposed social DRM, when you buy a file you own it, in the sense that you get also the freedom to do whatever you want with it. Share it, backup it, copy it... whatever.
However, you are now in the position of making damage to the publisher and the author with your actions, and you have a responsibility towards your actions. If you act carelessly and illegal distribution occurs, it's fair that you get a share of the punishment.
You see, you never got freedom actually for free.

Currently media vendors are treating their customers as small children. They are (with license-based DRM) physically preventing us from doing the things that the vendors don't want us to do (such as having a friend read a book of yours). You don't get a choice: with DRM in place, you cannot do these things. Just like when you keep a child in a crib... except that in that case you do that because you care about the child's safety, not yours.
To get your freedom back, today you have to strip the DRM, thus doing something that at the very least violates the contract between you and the vendor, and in some places can get you in trouble with the law.

With my proposal, you get your freedom back. But with freedom comes the responsibility to think about what you do with it. Instead of acting carelessly and unthinkingly like a small child, you are now an adult and have to take decisions. As in all other aspects of life, if you act without thinking you risk to damage other people, but also risk to get damaged yourself.

The current situation is similar to this one.
My neighbor Joe has a lawnmower. It's a good one, and there are people around that would be glad to steal it. I need to mow my lawn, so I go to Joe and ask for the use of his lawnmower. He says: ok, but I am attaching this heavy chain to it that links it to the wall of my house. You can use it, but of course you can't go around trees (the chain would jam) and you can't mow your back yard (the chain is too short). Finally, I don't want my lawnmower to be outside at night, so every night you have to bring it back in my own garage and then take it out again in the morning.

My proposal is like this, instead.
My neighbor Joe has a lawnmower. It's a good one, and there are people around that would be glad to steal it. I need to mow my lawn, so I go to Joe and ask for the use of his lawnmower. He says: ok, here it is. You can take it for as long as you need, and use it as you think appropriate. However, please be careful: it's a costly device and it would be bad if it got stolen. Bye!
BoldlyDubious is offline   Reply With Quote