We are starting on the trail of the information age. There are so many things that are changing the way we think about, deal with, and absorb information.
There are those who want information to be free, and for it to be a team building experience. The open source movement is a great example of this. It reminds me of Star Trek. Everyone seems to be working towards some greater cause, yet their modus operandi isn't to become rich in the process. It's simply to create a better world for those who come after us.
There are those who are strong believers in copyright, and are fighting for extensions to copyright law, the DMCA, the Pirate Act, and I'm sure many more licensing and protection measures for the information they produce.
It is my belief that information wants to be free. Often you will see me saying "Information should be free, viva la resistance!" Maybe I'm naive, but I have a very hard time understanding copyright and ownership of information. Where does it begin, where does it end? If you read my blog, and talk about an idea I expressed here, do I own that thought that you just stole from my blog? I THINK NOT! This is how humans work. We communicate to share information. If we weren't meant to freely share information, we would not have the gift of communication, or we'd have some sort of metering system built into our physiology to measure how much energy you must transfer to me in order for me to speak to you.
Recently there was an article posted on ZD's News titled "Are developers stealing code?" This is getting crazy! That link I just created to ZD News... Well, not only did I read the article and stole the idea which fueled this article, but I also stole the concept of a hyperlink from the w3.org site, and created a link to it. I can't deal with this madness! Before long, I'll be paying royalties to my previous employers in order to mention their name and the work I did there on my resume.
Where does information begin? American Heritage Dictionary defines information, as it relates to computer science, as "Processed, stored, or transmitted data." So that seems that I'm advocating that all things processed, stored or transmitted should be free? Well yes! The data should be free. I can understand if you want to charge me for the service of transmittal, but the actual data itself should be free. I think the Russians at allofmp3 understand this. Hopefully American's will catch up. After all, we did specially engineer a pen to work in space while our comrads across the way just used a pencil instead.
Vive la resistance & sink the Pirate act in it's tracks
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