(no subject)
Watching Babylon 5 Season 3. It's somewhat frightening in its depiction of jingoism, the depiction of governments taking away civil liberties inch by inch, political machinations manipulating the populace and keeping them in the dark. The media made the puppet of the administration. Battlestar Galactica is a far darker, grittier picture of the future, but one can't really relate to it. What I really like about B5 is that it respects continuity, so often interesting climactic things are happening every episode, so unlike DS9, you don't have to dig through a lot of throwaway episodic stories.
I can't say I agree with the frequent use of "intellectual property" as a blanket term for things that are copyrighted, trademarked, or patented. One need only read Slashdot (I don't anymore) to see another completely asinine device patented like scroll bars or something. I'm not sure if I've ranted here about Disney being evil, but there is a clear need for copyright reform. Patents are stifling innovation instead of protecting it. Copyrights are devices corporations are using to ensure eternal ownership of works so that said organizations can maximize profits, even at the expense of the public good. As I understand it, copyrights were originally developed with the purpose of protecting individuals so that artists can benefit from their own work. It would seem that now it is used by corporations to form a massive legal shield, an umbrella should they need to deploy their legions of lawyers in defense of profitability and the stockholders' dividends. I think 'intellectual property' is a misnomer. When you write a book or a song, ultimately, that belongs to the human race... copyright is granted so you can make a living as an artist for the rest of your life, but it is not a belonging for you or anyone to hoard for ever. When someone wants to read Shakespeare, they do not have to go hat in hand to some his estate and purchase it at a price which reflects a monopoly on the works. If copyright was envisioned as an artistic lease, then maybe it should go back to being that. It is a shame that books and such are being lost because of copyright extension, and I wish more people would see how harmful it is for everyone. Disney should understand that better than anyone, having borrowed almost all of their stories from the public domain.
I can't say I agree with the frequent use of "intellectual property" as a blanket term for things that are copyrighted, trademarked, or patented. One need only read Slashdot (I don't anymore) to see another completely asinine device patented like scroll bars or something. I'm not sure if I've ranted here about Disney being evil, but there is a clear need for copyright reform. Patents are stifling innovation instead of protecting it. Copyrights are devices corporations are using to ensure eternal ownership of works so that said organizations can maximize profits, even at the expense of the public good. As I understand it, copyrights were originally developed with the purpose of protecting individuals so that artists can benefit from their own work. It would seem that now it is used by corporations to form a massive legal shield, an umbrella should they need to deploy their legions of lawyers in defense of profitability and the stockholders' dividends. I think 'intellectual property' is a misnomer. When you write a book or a song, ultimately, that belongs to the human race... copyright is granted so you can make a living as an artist for the rest of your life, but it is not a belonging for you or anyone to hoard for ever. When someone wants to read Shakespeare, they do not have to go hat in hand to some his estate and purchase it at a price which reflects a monopoly on the works. If copyright was envisioned as an artistic lease, then maybe it should go back to being that. It is a shame that books and such are being lost because of copyright extension, and I wish more people would see how harmful it is for everyone. Disney should understand that better than anyone, having borrowed almost all of their stories from the public domain.