Archive:Practical grounds

Capitalism is based on the concept of personal property.

While copyright as a commercial right is one thing, the current multibillion dollar copyright regimes are trying to say they have a right to govern your property, and your culture.

the phrase "my right to swing my fist ends where another's face begins" apparently does not apply to these interest groups, which brand individual members of the public as thieves for sharing the very substance of cultural expression with one another.

There are two major economic structures which come to my mind which are characterized by a lack of a right to govern one's personal property.

One is serfdom. Serfs were "leased the rights" to their property by lords, who continued to tax them for everything they used.

The other is communism. People were denied personal property rights, and were forced to buy only one product in a way which the government mandated they buy it.

I ask, do these two systems sound rather familiar? "You either buy cd's or get sued." "You either buy digitally restricted media or get sued." "You are not allowed to share what you own with friends."

"Choosing not to buy from us is stealing"

I ask, is drinking from the tap stealing from bottled water companies? Is waiting for a movie to come out on HBO and recording it stealing from motion picture studios?

Capitalism cannot exist without the concept of personal property, and these recent assertions of "ownership" of our individual property are starting to affect people's wish to consume. Many are rejecting such new restrictions, and it is already starting to hurt the flow of capital. The internet depends upon open standards and freedom to exchange, without this, it will wither and die, and the trilions of dollars of GDP which depend on the internet and the computer will die with it.

Controlling our culture with threats of prison, "education" of our children with anticonsumer rhetoric, law suits, or technological bans is not the answer, nor is it conducive to a free and productive society. Yet, these extreme measures have been proposed by congress while collective licenses, laws to promote open standards, and constuctive solutions are being ignored.