document.write(''); function getURLParam(strParamName){ var strReturn = ""; var strHref = window.location.href; if ( strHref.indexOf("?") > -1 ){ var strQueryString = strHref.substr(strHref.indexOf("?")).toLowerCase(); var aQueryString = strQueryString.split("&"); for ( var iParam = 0; iParam < aQueryString.length; iParam++ ){ if ( aQueryString[iParam].indexOf(strParamName.toLowerCase() + "=") > -1 ){ var aParam = aQueryString[iParam].split("="); strReturn = aParam[1]; break; } } } return unescape(strReturn); } function readCookie(name) { var nameEQ = name + '='; var ca = document.cookie.split(';'); for(var i=0;i < ca.length;i++) { var c = ca[i]; while (c.charAt(0)==' ') c = c.substring(1,c.length); if (c.indexOf(nameEQ) == 0) return c.substring(nameEQ.length,c.length); } return null; } function createCookie(name,value,days) { if (days) { var date = new Date(); date.setTime(date.getTime()+(days*24*60*60*1000)); var expires = "; expires="+date.toGMTString(); } else var expires = ""; document.cookie = name+"="+value+expires+"; path=/"; } function replaceAll(oldStr,findStr,repStr) { var srchNdx = 0; var newStr = ""; while (oldStr.indexOf(findStr,srchNdx) != -1) { newStr += oldStr.substring(srchNdx,oldStr.indexOf(findStr,srchNdx)); newStr += repStr; srchNdx = (oldStr.indexOf(findStr,srchNdx) + findStr.length); } newStr += oldStr.substring(srchNdx,oldStr.length); return newStr; } var strHref = window.location.href; document.write(''); document.write('
Intellectual Property: setting the record straight
December 2, 2008
p2pnet.net
The topic of IP (Intellectual Property) is extremely contentious; those defending the status quo (and the multinational corporations benefitting from it) consistently misunderstand/misrepresent the concerns of their opponents.
They brand p2p users as “theives” who “just don’t want to pay for stuff”. They usually find the “Public Domain” to be irrelevant, and sometimes explicitly regard the end of copyright terms to be “taking something” from them/their descendents. They expend a tremendous amount of effort to convince everyone that IP is ultimately about their “sacred right to property.”
Thus, advocates of p2p technology or “file-sharing” are placed at a tremendous disadvantage from the beginning. After all, almost nobody is willing to “call their bluff” and explicitly defend “piracy” or “lawbreaking”. Also, until and unless a given law becomes problematic, people aren’t very likely to question it’s existence or neccesity. It’s not so much apathy as ignorance — most people simply don’t care about stuff until it becomes impossible not to take a stand.
Opponents of p2p technology (the RIAA, MPAA, etc.) have quite a problem on their hands. By their own (possibly inflated) statements, p2p traffic accounts for a significant chunk of all Internet traffic
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/06/25/45-percent-of-all-traffic-is-p2p/
It’s also undeniable that millions of people in all countries use p2p and other technologies to share files with one another irrespective of the legal status of such activities.
http://www.p2p-blog.com/?itemid=62
To put it bluntly, from the point of view of those defending the Status Quo, a significant proportion of the world’s population are “scofflaws”...more