intellectual property

a) I am glad I am not a lawyer. b) I did not know the RIAA says you can copy music with a music-copier but not a data-video-music copier. nowadays, don't most people purchase the latter because it has multiple uses? and now they say you can't use one of its uses because of this fact? lame.

Anywho, I touched briefly on intellectual property when I talked about peer-to-peer networking. This somewhat effects me personally, as someone who likes to make art and write (although I won't be so arrogant as to assume people want to steal my work. nothing is funnier than people who go to great lengths to make sure everyone knows their crappy blog or terrible picture is copyrighted). I've known people who have had their artwork hijacked by some sketchy t-shirt company, which I think is obviously wrong.

However, like I said below, I'm remorseless and shameless when it comes to violating intellectual property laws myself, for my private use. Maybe if the prices of DVDs and computers weren't so inflated, I'd be more sympathetic.

The reading also brought up the idea of digital reproduction and transmission of information. See, I think with the right mindset a company can make money off of this technology instead of it being the bane of their existence. Netflix seems to be extremely popular and now, if you have a subscription, you can watch movies directly on your computer instead of waiting for the next one in the mail. To me, this is a lot more convenient than going out looking for some obscure indie movie on the internet, downloading it, having it take up memory and potentially getting a virus.

Then, as I mentioned below, since Radiohead does not have a record label they just decided to distribute it digitally and allow fans to pay whatever they feel like (if they even feel like paying). Or you could pay eighty dollars and get all this artwork and some records - I have no doubt hardcore music snobs will go for that and it's not much worse than boxed-dvd sets. I mean, I can't tell if it's a good business move...they're rich anyway. I just know their embrace of the free flow of internet information makes me far less resentful. and I guess (from what I have read on the internets) they're making "pure" profits from the money they are getting, since they didn't go through a distributor and they're selling pure digital reproductions - no packaging, no plastic etc. It seems win-win...some have argued this is a sneaky form of price-gouging but if they get to make money and I get free stuff, then that's so much better than the current model of "selling" information.