Offtopic copyright stuff (Was; Re: [PLUG] Microsoft's smell of desperation | LinuxWorld (fwd))

Jeme A Brelin jeme at brelin.net
Thu Aug 1 11:53:52 UTC 2002


On Thu, 1 Aug 2002, Neil Anuskiewicz wrote:
> I have to say though that mass music sharing is not helpful. It is
> clear that they violate copyright laws in ways that are easy for
> lawmakers and others to understand.

I disagree wholeheartedly.  I think it is perfectly clear according to the
letter of the law that all non-commercial speech is protected and does not
fall under the limitations of Title 17.

The various publishing industries would like you to believe that
non-commercial activity can be illegal, but it's simply not the case...
yet.  Unfortunately, so many people have been convinced by their
propaganda (like the absurd "FBI WARNING" screens and ridiculous blanket
statements like "unauthorized reproduction prohibited"), they just might
succeed in passing laws that people think are already on the books.

It's very hard to get accurate information about the publishing industries
when all of your information comes from the publishing industries (and a
damned few players in those industries, to boot).

J.
-- 
   -----------------
     Jeme A Brelin
    jeme at brelin.net
   -----------------
 [cc] counter-copyright
 http://www.openlaw.org





More information about the PLUG mailing list