Facing the Music: “The truth is that this story is much bigger than music, or even intellectual property. Something serious, and troubling, is happening — and I haven’t heard any good ideas about what to do about it.”
Paul Krugman points out a very true dilemma. The digital world does erase the boudaries that we have all grown up with – in contrast to Napster, et al. This changing world though, is not the central problem. In society, we’ve always had a somewhat defined social structure that would adjust along with the world as it changed (sometimes slower, sometimes faster). It was usually the function of the social structure to provide a sense of stability to it’s members. This is the dilemma in the digital world. Both, the world itself, and the social system are in constant flux. There are no more boundaries, and no stability of social structure. It has been the voices of the ‘digital elite’ that have been shaping the values systems in this new world. Those with a voice have exercised that voice in the form of opinions, software, dissemination of information, chat discussions, news postings, and through many informal discussions.
In the Marines, we would say “Semper Fi, Do or Die”, and I think that mentality will ultimately win over the forces of the present legal system to legislate the net. Hackers and coders tend to have this attitude, but our legal structure doesn’t. For every legal ‘solution’ to a copyright issue, there are dozens of hacks around it. Even for the solutions that have not been thought of yet, there are a multitude of work-arounds riding in cars with boys movie download address them.
watch land before time the in divx ordinary decent criminal free cybermutt divx movie online It’s a new world order. Our thinking about this new order needs to evolve, or it will soon fall by the wayside. The true revolutionaries of today don’t carry weapons. They carry laptops and congregate at local Linux User Group meetings. They have a different definition from most about what should be available to the public. Is that a good or a bad thing? It’s neither, it just is. Evolution is not bound by right and wrong, it just moves forward. Another Marine phrase: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” If you choose to be an obstacle, then you deserve the results.
There’s too much energy being spent on holding back a tidal wave. Our energy, and that of our legislature’s, would be better spent on working to shape the digital horizon, work with the movers and shakers in this world, and help to clarify values that can have enduring meaning here. The present efforts of government and corporate America are having a reverse effect. They encourage what they fight against, they strengthen what they try to weaken. One would think that such very smart people would see this very apparent contradiction.
