Scott@DreamlandVisions 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Supreme Court Decision On Guns May Cut Promoting Progress Out Of The Constitution

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 01 Jul, 2008 @ 04:07pm

    DC vs Heller ruling language

    Your premise is a bit off. If you'll take a look at the opening pages of the ruling on DC vs. Heller you'll see that the SCotUS does indeed deal with the opening clause of the 2nd Amendment:

    --- begin quote ---
    (a) The Amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose, but does not limit or expand the scope of the second part, the operative clause. The operative clause’s text and history demonstrate that it connotes an individual right to keep and bear arms.

    (b) The prefatory clause comports with the Court’s interpretation of the operative clause. The “militia” comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense. The Anti-federalists feared that the Federal Government would disarm the people in order to disable this citizens’ militia, enabling a politicized standing army or a select militia to rule. The response was to deny Congress power to abridge the ancient right of individuals to keep and bear arms, so that the ideal of a citizens’ militia would be preserved.
    --- end quote ---

    There is considerable language in the ruling regarding what is here called the preferatory clause.

    I agree that there needs to be some serious thought put into the interpretation of the "copyright" amendment as you present it here, but to start the discussion with this ruling as your basis deflects from what otherwise could be a serious and decent discussion.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 01:01pm

    Re: War On Piracy

    You mean like a War to End All Wars? Been tried. Didn't quite work.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 01:00pm

    Re: This is a waste

    I've referenced proven models and examples several times. Here, I'll make it easy for you.

    www.webscriptions.net

    If you want it handed to you further, read this essay by one of the authors on webscriptions:

    http://baens-universe.com/articles/The_Economics_of_Writing

    He includes 10 years of hard numbers that prove my points.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 12:55pm

    Re: Re:

    Speed limits are set to where they are not for safety as much as a, now no longer valid, idea of a conservation of fuel. The fuel economy curves in the 70's topped out at 55mph. Now they top out at closer to 80mph for most cars.

    Speed limits and safety is an entirely different argument. Take it offline and I"d love to hash it out with you.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 12:51pm

    Re: I Agree with Bragg

    That's not exactly what I was getting at.

    The music/movie/etc industry looks at supposed levels of non authorized digital distribution (piracy is another term I balk at using here for reasons not germaine to this specific discussion) and either assume that each of those copies would have been a sale, and therefore is a 'loss' or they take some percentage and assume a loss there.

    In dealing with physical items, that is true. If someone steals a cd from the store, that store is still financially out the cost to replace the cd and could, realistically, count the loss profit from the sale.

    With non-physical items, you have lost not one single dime's worth or real property.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 12:37pm

    Not exactly.

    The central problem with your flashlight vs book analogy is one of uniqueness of purpose.

    A novel is not paper, it is not printing, it is not words, it is a unique story delivered in that particular physical or digital medium.

    A flashlight is a device that, regardless of it's color, shape, power source, or other detail, serves only the purpose of giving light. ANY device that serves that purpose can be used in it's place.

    However, you can not acquire any other 'device' that tells that story except the intellectual property of that author telling that story.

    The value of the IP is it's uniqueness. Sure there are other stories out there. There may even be other tellings of a similar story, but a specific authored piece is unique in and of itself, and only it can fill the need in the consumer for that particular 'job'.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 09:35am

    Re: Re:

    Baen publishing is capitalizing on this already. They publish e-ARCs a few months before the paper copy hits. Yeah, they have typos, unedited sections, and even in one case a "insert techno babble here later" in them. That's why they're Advance Reader edtions. It's also why they sell like crazy.

    Get the book months early, get to see it in close to a raw form. Then buy the finished copy when it's released.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 09:32am

    Another take on the piracy issue

    Something that I have not seen discussed here, and often isn't discussed anywhere electronic piracy is mentioned is the 'loss' part of the 'theft'.

    When you boost a car, lift a cd, steal a book, you have deprived someone of a physical item that has costs of manufacture and attainment associated with it. That value of that item has been removed from that person.

    In the electronic world, the cost to 'manufacture' a single e-book, mp3 or even a pdf is as close to zero as you can get.

    What I mean is that the cost to produce, including advances to the authors, marketing, etc, one single pdf of a book is not substantially or even measurably lower than productin one million copies of that pdf.

    What that does is create an entirely new economic model. If I publish a book online that sells 1,000 copies. I then find that it's floating through all the irc channels, news groups, p2p networks and websites for free, I have still lost nothing material.

    Losing potential sales is a marketing issue, not a legal one. A potential sale does not exist. It is an idea a concept a, dare I say it, potentiality. I can not deposit potential sales dollars, only actual ones.

    Nor has piracy of my pdf cost me a single actual dollar of material costs. It has deprived me of nothing.

    Seeing my pdf on the nets gives me something I can't purchase for any reasonable price, wide spread attention among a fairly intelligent and nearly impossible demographic to advertise to.

  • On the post: Tools Don't Make Pirates. Unreasonable Barriers Make Pirates

    Scott@DreamlandVisions ( profile ), 07 Dec, 2007 @ 08:52am

    Someone already does it right.

    Baen publishing has been selling their entire catalog of books in electronic form for years. No DRM, no hassles, and a darned good price. You even get your choice of formats ranging from plain-text to mobipocket.

    They understand the market and they understand that the easier you make it for people to purchase your product (I flat refuse to use the work 'consume' for anything not edible), the more people will purchase your product.

    Eric Flint, one of the minds behind their e-book venture, has a great editorial on the topic and why it works. He has also published numbers proving that the more relaxed they are about fair use and distribution of their e-book versions the more sales of the paper versions goes up.

    Here's a link to his editorial: http://baens-universe.com/articles/The_Pig-in-a-Poke_Factor

    Read it.