Porn was mainstreamed above the objections of most in the U.S. The argument was that it is a freedom of expression and free speech issue. Apparently, that only works if you have a method of making tons of money. SAVING people tons of money does not count.
It's sort of like how raw milk is unhealthy despite the fact that almost no one gets sick from it, but raw oysters are fine even though 15 or so people die from eating them every year.
This goes back to concepts of who should be allowed to vote. As much as the "middle class" folks at the forefront of democratic movements in the early modern era supported the death of monarchy, they did NOT support democracy. What they supported was plutocracy, and that is what we have - with a few democratic outlets built in for appearances sake, and yes, to alert our leaders when there is a groundswell of resentment building.
Banking, whether central or not, is a method of centralizing control over the economy. When the government ceases taking payment of taxes in kind or in labor and begins to force us to pay taxes in little paper notes issued by a separate group of private interests, we are in effect being put in the service of these said individuals.
Intellectual property creates a situation where non-physical goods can be commoditized and thus plugged into this same system.
Limited liability ensures the owners cannot be held accountable. Corporate owners enjoy immunity to lawsuits similar to the immunity the government itself enjoys.
The stakeholders are the owners, and have been for pretty much all of human history. We are less, and not more free, than medieval man.
You are attacking only one branch of the system. Seek out the root. The root is the very concept of owning anything that one does not make themselves or else trade for. If you are not attacking rule by ownership, you are not attacking the actual problem. If there is no rule by ownership, then IP becomes immaterial. Rule must be consensus based, truly of by and for the people rather than merely nominally so.
Is that there is not enough pressure being put on politicians to stop supporting this sort of thing. I tried a month or two ago to get some folks interested in taking the Aaron Swartz issue to the streets, and even people here were not responsive.
Web sites are not going to get it done. Even EFF and Demand Progress are not organizing boots on the ground. I went to several Occupy Austin meetings and never got much support either.
At some point you are going to have to leverage your tech savvy into something sustainable that presses forward with reform rather than constantly fighting a rear guard retreat against what looks more and more like the inevitable.
Then they should not be able to simply reference them. Obviously, regulations need to be openly available. There is no sense having laws no one is allowed to read.
For once, it seems a reactionary self-important artist is getting exactly what he wants - a growing lack of relevance.
I like Calvin and Hobbes as well, but Mr. Watterson fails to recognize that when art goes out into the world, it becomes part of the larger community, and to attempt to shut that down is to kill the interactions that eventually grow to make a body of work transcendent - the kind of work that bears repeated viewing, and stands the test of time.
I've made two abortive attempts in my life to drive a cab, and it is amazingly corrupt. A handful of people control the licensing, and rent for your cab in Austin, TX for example is $90.00/day or $60.00/12-hour-shift for a car they most likely bought wholesale from a wrecking yard and repaired - hardly the purpose of having these laws that require cabs to be late model cars.
Imagine what nice cars would be cruising around cabbing if not for the monopoly on licenses. $2700.00/month will buy a mighty fine ride.
I'm all about free markets, but "capitalism" presumes capital, itself a construct of governments and corporate entities pretty much from its inception in northern Italy.
Capitalism and Socialism are the same thing, basically. The real problem right now is largely "centralism", but ultimately things break down into good, old fashioned greed on the one hand and apathy on the other.
Neither your insurance company nor your doctor will tell you jack diddly about what processes they use to decide whether or not you will suffer, live, or die. All these patients bills of rights - they just ignore.
Don't even think about any "rights" in the VA, and heaven help everyone when the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act fully takes hold.
I'm sorry, but I am sick and tired of hearing about how important it is to brain drain the rest of the world while refusing to educate citizens of this country.
I am not impressed with the "need" to keep smart people from everywhere else. The countries where these folks come from will benefit from their being there, and America needs to quit treating its citizens like chaff to be burned.
I'm not buying this idea that the doctors are innocent. They work in these institutions, they profit off of it, some of them work in and for the pharma companies. It is all, from top to bottom and side to side, people who are hiding information on how to make people well and then charging through the nose for the privilege of having treatment for pain or impending death.
Talented musicians are a dime a dozen, which you'd know if you hung out around live musicians. Talented musicians that are willing to sell their souls and heath to a system that will profiteer off of them AND their fans in order to become megastars are a rare commodity, and they are every bit as evil as the greedy no goods who use them to get rich in their stead.
I'm so, so, SO incredibly sick and tired of hearing how without copyright people who play pretend, sing, and dance for a living will stop playing pretend, singing and dancing.
Tyop
"Technologies which has helped...." I think should be "...which have helped...."
A little too late it seems, since the tread is already quite lively. Or maybe I am wrong...
Then why is porn legal
Porn was mainstreamed above the objections of most in the U.S. The argument was that it is a freedom of expression and free speech issue. Apparently, that only works if you have a method of making tons of money. SAVING people tons of money does not count.
It's sort of like how raw milk is unhealthy despite the fact that almost no one gets sick from it, but raw oysters are fine even though 15 or so people die from eating them every year.
Guess which side of each debate has the money?
I saw....
"Artists... demand to get laid."
Stakeholders
This goes back to concepts of who should be allowed to vote. As much as the "middle class" folks at the forefront of democratic movements in the early modern era supported the death of monarchy, they did NOT support democracy. What they supported was plutocracy, and that is what we have - with a few democratic outlets built in for appearances sake, and yes, to alert our leaders when there is a groundswell of resentment building.
Banking, whether central or not, is a method of centralizing control over the economy. When the government ceases taking payment of taxes in kind or in labor and begins to force us to pay taxes in little paper notes issued by a separate group of private interests, we are in effect being put in the service of these said individuals.
Intellectual property creates a situation where non-physical goods can be commoditized and thus plugged into this same system.
Limited liability ensures the owners cannot be held accountable. Corporate owners enjoy immunity to lawsuits similar to the immunity the government itself enjoys.
The stakeholders are the owners, and have been for pretty much all of human history. We are less, and not more free, than medieval man.
You are attacking only one branch of the system. Seek out the root. The root is the very concept of owning anything that one does not make themselves or else trade for. If you are not attacking rule by ownership, you are not attacking the actual problem. If there is no rule by ownership, then IP becomes immaterial. Rule must be consensus based, truly of by and for the people rather than merely nominally so.
What this means
Is that there is not enough pressure being put on politicians to stop supporting this sort of thing. I tried a month or two ago to get some folks interested in taking the Aaron Swartz issue to the streets, and even people here were not responsive.
Web sites are not going to get it done. Even EFF and Demand Progress are not organizing boots on the ground. I went to several Occupy Austin meetings and never got much support either.
At some point you are going to have to leverage your tech savvy into something sustainable that presses forward with reform rather than constantly fighting a rear guard retreat against what looks more and more like the inevitable.
Re: Re: Re:
Then they should not be able to simply reference them. Obviously, regulations need to be openly available. There is no sense having laws no one is allowed to read.
Evil gets it Just Deserts
For once, it seems a reactionary self-important artist is getting exactly what he wants - a growing lack of relevance.
I like Calvin and Hobbes as well, but Mr. Watterson fails to recognize that when art goes out into the world, it becomes part of the larger community, and to attempt to shut that down is to kill the interactions that eventually grow to make a body of work transcendent - the kind of work that bears repeated viewing, and stands the test of time.
Re:
In this particular instance, Google stands to benefit. Not sure why you are bringing them up as an innocent victim here.
Re: WTF?
I second.
Cab Driving
I've made two abortive attempts in my life to drive a cab, and it is amazingly corrupt. A handful of people control the licensing, and rent for your cab in Austin, TX for example is $90.00/day or $60.00/12-hour-shift for a car they most likely bought wholesale from a wrecking yard and repaired - hardly the purpose of having these laws that require cabs to be late model cars.
Imagine what nice cars would be cruising around cabbing if not for the monopoly on licenses. $2700.00/month will buy a mighty fine ride.
Real Pirates
Trade flash drives.
I wonder when the silicon sniffing dogs will make the scene?
Amen
Exactly how I see it.
Re: Re: It's what you get when capitalists control a market...
I'm all about free markets, but "capitalism" presumes capital, itself a construct of governments and corporate entities pretty much from its inception in northern Italy.
Capitalism and Socialism are the same thing, basically. The real problem right now is largely "centralism", but ultimately things break down into good, old fashioned greed on the one hand and apathy on the other.
No transparency
Neither your insurance company nor your doctor will tell you jack diddly about what processes they use to decide whether or not you will suffer, live, or die. All these patients bills of rights - they just ignore.
Don't even think about any "rights" in the VA, and heaven help everyone when the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act fully takes hold.
It's utter nonsense.
Because American Students Couldn't POSSIBLY
I'm sorry, but I am sick and tired of hearing about how important it is to brain drain the rest of the world while refusing to educate citizens of this country.
I am not impressed with the "need" to keep smart people from everywhere else. The countries where these folks come from will benefit from their being there, and America needs to quit treating its citizens like chaff to be burned.
Re:
Problematically, most of this will turn out to already be illegal for various reasons of licensure and intellectual property.
Pfft, doctors
I'm not buying this idea that the doctors are innocent. They work in these institutions, they profit off of it, some of them work in and for the pharma companies. It is all, from top to bottom and side to side, people who are hiding information on how to make people well and then charging through the nose for the privilege of having treatment for pain or impending death.
What would someone not pay?
Re: Re: Re: Re:
I get so tired of this.
Talented musicians are a dime a dozen, which you'd know if you hung out around live musicians. Talented musicians that are willing to sell their souls and heath to a system that will profiteer off of them AND their fans in order to become megastars are a rare commodity, and they are every bit as evil as the greedy no goods who use them to get rich in their stead.
I'm so, so, SO incredibly sick and tired of hearing how without copyright people who play pretend, sing, and dance for a living will stop playing pretend, singing and dancing.
So the &*$@ what?
Get real.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh man...
Tautalogy.
Any two bit moron understands the Supreme Court has the final say as a matter of practical application.
You are about worthless. THIS is why no one debates you.
Cool!
And then the government could put a gatling gun on it and label poachers eco-terrorists.