ITGS Online

‘hanging out the dirty linen’ to delve into the ethics of IT’s role in society.

Remix – Update Three

Well, this is my third required blog post (out of three) to review my little book experience. It seems that everybody else is still at post number one, so I'm not sure who's doing the right thing here... Anyway, I finally completed Remix and now I can report the final conclusion about how a 'hybrid economy' would work to solve the problems of copyright on the Internet. Being the shortest part of the book, I can easily summarise the main points. In the end, Lawrence Lessig never gives the reader a full understanding to how the government can change. Instead, he brings many suggestions forward. He wants two tiers of copyright based in the professional creators and the amateur creators. Anything made by professionals should be protected with a similar force, but far less strict. Amateur works should have even less priviledges and a less watchful eye over their content. With this combination, the people earning money aren't being affected. The people who might be gaining some advertisement revenue from their works also get it their way, because they want to share something without lawyers in the way. Lessig describes how the governments should reconsider their actions, with the book simply being a helpful hint.

Perhaps the government will understand one day, but that day will have to come in a while. I suggest reading the book for a better understanding of Lawrence Lessig's ideaology, I would say it's worth your time.



Remix – Update Two

CopyrightHaving read the first and second (of three) parts, my third post about Remix by Lawrence Lessig can only summarise so much. What I have read is building up to the final part, which will most likely reveal this 'hybrid economy' that is being written about. He has given many examples where businesses seem so backwards on the point of copyright, going to extremes to make sure that the most insignificant things around the Internet have to be taken down. A style of music video that has become increasingly popular uses clips from anime shows, coreographing them to music. The Japanese companies that produce these videos could easily file lawsuits to every single one of these anime music videos. In one case, a student who graduated from high school struggled to get into a film course. After showing a portfolio of his anime videos, he was immediately let into one college. It proves that talent should be praised over copyright. Upon this, Lessig also gives examples where free content does work extremely well, even if it isn't entirely legal. Yahoo Answers, although not always the best place to get your question answered, proves that uncited information is still valuable.

It is clear that Lawrence Lessig is against the current traditions of copyright, but how will he suggest businesses change their ways? How will the issues of control and intellectual property be solved? Find out next time, when I've read part three and finished the book.



  

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