
Can conservatives break the copyright stalemate? - iProject
http://gigaom.com/2013/02/10/can-conservatives-break-the-copyright-stalemate/
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bediger4000
First, how do you figure that a "copyright stalemate" exists? If a stalemate
existed, we'd see legislation going both ways (ratcheting up, and decreasing
copyright limits and penalties for infringement). I don't see this, all I see
is legislation that increases the time of monopoly, increases the penalties,
and changes the penalties from civil to criminal, which is a rather large
change.

I don't see a stalement, I see the US and other governments promoting
copyright/"Intellectual Property" as a permanent monopoly on some ideas, I see
the US and other governments giving large amounts of aid to vested interests.
I see the US and French governments in particular aiding large corporations by
promoting the concept that copying is theft of property.

I do see people resisting this encroachment on culture in some minor ways -
the resistance to SOPA in the US in particular, and ACTA in Europe.

So, I don't see "stalemate". I do see governments seizing on the idea of
"ideas as property". I suspect that this happens because property rights are
stronger than free speech rights. Governments want "ideas as property" so that
they can stuff the Internet self-publishing genie back into the gatekeeper's
bottle.

