[lbo-talk] Time to Get Religion

Tayssir John Gabbour tayssir.john at googlemail.com
Thu Dec 7 14:06:46 PST 2006


On 12/7/06, boddi satva <lbo.boddi at gmail.com> wrote:
> Wait a second, Chuck. You mean **stealing** is a popular activity?

The media industry has had a long history of misunderstanding and fearing technology.

"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone." -- MPAA president testifying to Congress, 1982


> Both copyright AND the anti-copyright "movement" fail to address the
> fundamental question directly: how do we pay innovators and artists and keep
> them going?

Actually, the Free Culture movement is concerned about it. Prof. Lessig's blog was full of ideas when I read it -- and actively sought more.

Given that market economies suffer from the free rider problem, what do we do to fix it?

Perhaps we could gain inspiration from the media industry itself. Some western countries, like Canada and Germany, levy a "piracy tax" on blank media like tapes and CDs, which goes to the media industry. Why not a far more democratic version of it?

Tayssir



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