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.

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Fats Million is reading Remix by Lawrence Lessig!

Thank you, Slowpoke. In my first update with the book I am reading for ITGS, Lessig has already delved into the topic of a 'hybrid economy' to combat piracy. As he has written, many people believe that "Either Hollywood will win or The Net will win" the situation. For these people, there is no middle ground to suggest that the pirates can work together with original creators. This is not entirely true, because there are examples where digital distribution can coexist with actual payment. Take iTunes for example, which successfully combatted against organizations such as Napster (when they did provide free sharing of music). Although Steve Jobs was not the first person to try, Apple was the most influencial solution. Now iTunes proudly shows off its recent figure of ten billion downloaded, completely paid-for songs. Later in the book, Lessig will most likely explain his own plan to build upon these facts.

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"For more than a decade, we’ve been waging a war on our kids in the name of the 20th Century’s model of “copyright law.” In this, the last of his books about copyright, Lawrence Lessig maps both a way back to the 19th century, and to the promise of the 21st. Our past teaches us about the value in “remix.” We need to relearn the lesson. The present teaches us about the potential in a new “hybrid economy” — one where commercial entities leverage value from sharing economies. That future will benefit both commerce and community. If the lawyers could get out of the way, it could be a future we could celebrate."

This is the introduction to Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy by Lawrence Lessig from the official website. It is a book, nearly 300 pages long, that I have been asked to read at my own pace. It discusses and provides solutions to the problem revolving around musical piracy. Taking time to sit down as read it, I managed to look at the introduction and beginning chapter. The first part describes innocent situations when people have been affected by copyright claims because they have provided music unjustly. The very first story is a mother's YouTube video of their one year-old child dancing to Let's Go Crazy by (the artist formerly known as) Prince. The video survived for a few months before Universal Records filed against the illegal use of their music in a video. YouTube notified the mother before removing it from their servers.

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