[d@DCC] Response to Globe Article on unauthorized downloading

[Wallace J.McLean]

----- Original Message -----
From: Russell McOrmond <russell at flora.ca>
Date: Thursday, August 11, 2005 2:49 pm
Subject: Re: [d at DCC] Response to Globe Article on unauthorized 
downloading

> > "Someone else" -- nature -- already has done this. It is 
> physically 
> > impossible, in this universe, to physically control every act 
> > of "sharing".
> 
>   The same is true of every other man-made law, so I don't see 
> your point.

My point is that the purpose of copyright law is not to prevent, or 
provide a remedy for, every instance of "unauthorized sharing", not 
only because that would be unsound policy, it would be impossible.

>   This is beside the point.  You took one sentence in a letter to 
the 
> editor and tried to interpret it as if it was an encyclopedia that 
> provided an impossible level of detail.

No, I took one sentence and tried to show the danger in blanket and 
overbroad statements.

>   Impossible to say, given without copyright I doubt we would 
> have this 
> software to be having this conversation via ;-)

Why not?

Why would software have never come into being in a world without 
copyright? I don't accept that as self-evident.

In fact, as near as I can tell, the OPPOSITE is true: the growth in 
expressive work and the commercial use of expressive work has always, 
throughout history, begat copyright. Not the other way around.


> motivation to do so would not have existed.  While I get paid for 
> much 
> of the software that I write, I don't always get paid enough for 
> the money to be enough motivation.

This would change, in a world without copyright, or in a world with 
absolute copyright, how?