What the *$&@!
I just read pages 177 to 207, and all I can say is wow. I do not understand this crazy mixed up nation and its laws, but it sure makes me say, “What the *$&@!” Some of the statistics I read are just mind boggling.
The first thing I would like to discuss is on page 185 where Lessig talks about how “Jesse Jordan and three other students were threatened with a $98 billion lawsuit by the RIAA for building search engines that permitted songs to be copied.” How can music cost that much money first of all? And then Lessig goes on and states, “A doctor who negligently removes the wrong leg in an operation would be liable for no more than $250,000 in damages for pain and suffering.” Does someone actually believe that music costs more than someone’s physical body/life? The RIAA thinks that everyone who downloads music is a multi-billionaire. They are asking for an obscene amount of compensation which is just unrealistic to the everyday human being. So I wish them the best of luck if they think they are going to get what they initially asked for.
Another section I would like to point out is on page 186: “There is a free market in pencils; we needn’t worry about its effect on creativity. But there is a highly regulated, monopolized market in cultural icons; the right to cultivate and transform them is not similarly free.” The artist who uses an easel and paintbrush never had to worry about stealing another person’s work, yet an artist using Photoshop is constantly on his or her toes worrying about if their work has previously been used. It is unlawful to use or manipulate an icon’s image. If you really think about it, considering how long art has been around, it is pretty hard to come up with something that is really your own unique creation. The only reason why artists who do not use the web or Photoshop are not prosecuted is because it is harder to catch them.
The last section I would like to mention is on page 192: “The building of a permission culture, rather than a free culture, is the first important way in which the changes I have described will burden innovation…” After finishing this part of the chapter, it made me think about how hard it really is for the people in our culture to write/create something. There is this long on-going process to make sure what they created is okay to become public. They must ask a lawyer for permission if they are following all of the laws/rules. A lawyer is not on the same mind level as an author/writer/artist. I understand the lawyer knows the “laws” but these lawyers are taking so much away from these people’s creativity. If I were in that type of position, I would pick a new career because the hassle and the risk of being sued for millions of dollars are definitely not worth it.
The first thing I would like to discuss is on page 185 where Lessig talks about how “Jesse Jordan and three other students were threatened with a $98 billion lawsuit by the RIAA for building search engines that permitted songs to be copied.” How can music cost that much money first of all? And then Lessig goes on and states, “A doctor who negligently removes the wrong leg in an operation would be liable for no more than $250,000 in damages for pain and suffering.” Does someone actually believe that music costs more than someone’s physical body/life? The RIAA thinks that everyone who downloads music is a multi-billionaire. They are asking for an obscene amount of compensation which is just unrealistic to the everyday human being. So I wish them the best of luck if they think they are going to get what they initially asked for.
Another section I would like to point out is on page 186: “There is a free market in pencils; we needn’t worry about its effect on creativity. But there is a highly regulated, monopolized market in cultural icons; the right to cultivate and transform them is not similarly free.” The artist who uses an easel and paintbrush never had to worry about stealing another person’s work, yet an artist using Photoshop is constantly on his or her toes worrying about if their work has previously been used. It is unlawful to use or manipulate an icon’s image. If you really think about it, considering how long art has been around, it is pretty hard to come up with something that is really your own unique creation. The only reason why artists who do not use the web or Photoshop are not prosecuted is because it is harder to catch them.
The last section I would like to mention is on page 192: “The building of a permission culture, rather than a free culture, is the first important way in which the changes I have described will burden innovation…” After finishing this part of the chapter, it made me think about how hard it really is for the people in our culture to write/create something. There is this long on-going process to make sure what they created is okay to become public. They must ask a lawyer for permission if they are following all of the laws/rules. A lawyer is not on the same mind level as an author/writer/artist. I understand the lawyer knows the “laws” but these lawyers are taking so much away from these people’s creativity. If I were in that type of position, I would pick a new career because the hassle and the risk of being sued for millions of dollars are definitely not worth it.
posted by Jennifer at 5:45 AM
3 Comments:
One of my annotation revisions was on the section from Lessig about Jesse Jordan's story. This loosely ties into my project on distance learning in that I am arguing that laws need to be clearer regarding posting things on the web. Jesse Jordan didn't even realize what he was doing was wrong. It just said that he was majoring in something related to computers and he was interested in computers, so he thought he would "tinker" with the search engine in his school's network. It seems to me that laws need to be easier for the average person to understand. Someone could get into a lot of trouble and not even realize it.
Going from your first paragraph...
I have recently read an article that feels the same way you do, most of the people getting fined for music downloads are college students. Just like everyone knows, college students don't have money. The conclusion to this is, you fine the students by making them do work.
One college made a student that got caught downloading a movie, type a paper on the rule of copyright that had to be turned into the dean.
I believe that is about the only way you can punish them. the 98 million is just a figure to scare you so that you don't download.
I agree with the notion that the music industry's attempt to compensate for lost profit is on the verge of insanity. They can't honestly expect that in order to make up for millions of people theivery, they can charge a select few they have actually caught with the burden to pay for everyone's wrong doing. The whole issue about a doctor being charged with only a portion of the cost for something so heinous as to remove a wrong leg made me say "What the *$&@!" too! Obviously, the two weren't in comparison upon deliberating on the consequences individually, but it is very interesting to see how radically different and improper the penalties turned out to be.
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