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Date: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 17:39:32 -0800 From: Toto <toto@sk.sympatico.ca> Subject: Re: Private property & the cypherpunks list(s) (fwd)
Personally, I try to let people know that they may use even my private email in any manner they see fit. I have no objection to even those who disagree with me using it to attack me or misdirect others, or whatever. I agree with Jim's 'defacto public domain' idea, as long as it does not conflict with the reality of the need for intellectual property rights. e.g. - copyright and patent law
I am not preventing people from retaining their rights. I simply recognize that there are entirely too many different views of 'fair use' to create a blanket order. I also recognize that one responsibility in a democracy of all citizens is the protection of the results of human effort. The best way to protect and preserve information is to place it in the public domain. Of course the other option is to sell large 'collections' to groups like Microsoft who would end up charging you out the ya-ya for looking at 'their' pretty pictures. Wonder what DaVinci would have thought of the way we treat HIS paintings? But I digress. Given that people have many highly individualistic views about copyright of their expression and the need to preserve that expression we must ask ourselves how? One obvious answer is to place everything in the public domain, I am shure the information race we experience now would be nothing compared to that worlds output. However, this prevents truly gifted individuals from being able to spend the time (eg lifetimes) needed to truly master some forms of expression. We certainly don't want to support them on the public dole, so there must be some way for them to make a living off their work. So we recognize their originality or inherent worth in their expression. We also recognize that there can't be complete and total protection because most people would not find a buyer for their expression simply from lack of knowledge. So, lets find a middle ground, one where people can tell other people about things they experience as well as feel secure that their efforts have some inherent worth and also some failsafe to ensure that as much effort as possible gets archived. So let's require each person to include their prefered choice of copyright in their communications, otherwise it falls into the public domain. The only resolution of this approach is that everyone gets what they want. Not relevant in this forum, but I also believe that material being held in copyright should fall into the public domain when the copyright holder dies.
If you are having trouble understanding the concept I am dealing with, here, then I suggest that you drink a bottle of Scotch and read this post again.
That's certainly one way to get in the correct attitude...;) Jim Choate CyberTects ravage@ssz.com