CSE 619
For the second part
of The Wealth of Networks by Yochai
Benkler goes into more detail about patterns of nonmarket individual and
cooperative social behavior. In the past we did not have to worry too much
about people plagiarizing or being able to burn copyrighted movies and CDs. However,
as technology has developed and prices have been increasing people have gotten
crazy with wanting to save money. With this money saving in mind people are
finding ways to cut corners like burning movies and CDs and plagiarizing for
papers. Laws like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are being put into place
so that there can be more of a safety net for the businesses that create the
movies, CDs and books.
Along
with all of the big laws and acts that are out there, there are also the ones
that are more there for another layer of protection like the second enclosure
movement. Things can be safer with more protection but it also can have its
back fires. Some people have the thought that having all of this protection is
challenging them to break the code, so to speak. I do not know this from
personal reasons, so you can stop thinking that (Just kidding).
Companies
have to decide how they want to go about with protecting what is rightfully
theirs. This means with film companies being able to make money off of the film
they just aired or the artist whose CDs was just released. I do not like that
the people that are breaking the law are taking away something that is not theirs
to take. I know that some people may think that the Hollywood stars, singers, authors,
producers and all of the other people that are being ripped off when copy
writing and plagiarism is happening do not need more money because they are
already rich. I just want to point out that if everyone thought this way than
those Hollywood stars, singers, authors, producers, etc. will not have a job to
pay their bills. Yes they are getting paid a lot more than many different
professions but if everyone takes away how they are earning their money than we
are taking away their way of life.
Even
though every country has their own laws and expectations, they are all pretty
similar in their laws against copywriting. Nothing is the exact same for every
country but they are the same when it comes to layering the protection. The countries
take notes an advice from each other like when “Europe covered similar ground
on telecommunications, and added a new exclusive right in raw facts in
databases” (Benkler, 2006) . There are the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties that the United States and
Europe established for telecommunications.
The
line still for the where is the laws and treaties going overboard in order to
protect and when they are just silly ways to put more boundaries on people and
their creativity. I understand fully that these laws and treaties need to be
put into place because it could get to crazy and people will not be able to
figure out whom to give credit to.
Works Cited
Benkler, Y. (2006). The Wealth of Networks.
New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Hi Diana,
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to read your blog post because it helped me refresh my memory on Benkler’s book Wealth of Networks. This was by far the hardest book for me to get through, but your summary helped put all the technical language into something much easier to understand. In most of the books we read, probably all of them, they talk about how copyright was something that we did not have to worry about until the advent of machines like a phonograph, tape recorder, CDs, computers, and so on. Because of these technologies people were able to consume media, but over time actually began to create with them too. I find it interesting how copyright has changed, especially since copyright has changed to benefit large media companies. It seems like since it has changed before to evolve with technology that it should change again since technology is always changing and the way that we use technology changes along with it.