It's going to be interesting to see what kind of 'digital' oriented legislation we'll have in 30 years time, when the majority of politicians in office would have actually grown up in the digital age.
I'm sure that there's more than a few politicians out there that haven't even been in the same *room* as a computer with internet access, let alone use it regularly... Yet these very same people mandate the laws that affect everyone.
One of the underlaying problems with all of these debates is that copyright have morphed tremendously over the years. *originally* it was intended to be a limited-time (7 years, IIRC) exclusive ownership by the creator, enforced by the goverment -- to foster the creation of new arts. (making it worth the time of the creators to create something)
The trade-off of this limited time protection was that after it expires, the items would be released to the public domain, for the greater common good.
Yet over the years copyright has been extended and extended, until it reach todays state where it is essentially unlimited for all practical purposes.
the media producers ended up with a great deal: essentially permanent ownership, without having to hold up their end of the original bargain.
Do you really think that Hollywood would decide to just stop producing movies should their copyrights expire after, say, a decade or two?
(Think about those MAME rom's Amon mentioned above -- Despite the fact that it's impossible to purchase them from the original producers and that there is about 0 economical viability for those games in todays market, it will still be technically illegal to download them for decades to come. I guess it's their ball, and they're taking it home.)
I'm sure that there's more than a few politicians out there that haven't even been in the same *room* as a computer with internet access, let alone use it regularly... Yet these very same people mandate the laws that affect everyone.
One of the underlaying problems with all of these debates is that copyright have morphed tremendously over the years. *originally* it was intended to be a limited-time (7 years, IIRC) exclusive ownership by the creator, enforced by the goverment -- to foster the creation of new arts. (making it worth the time of the creators to create something)
The trade-off of this limited time protection was that after it expires, the items would be released to the public domain, for the greater common good.
Yet over the years copyright has been extended and extended, until it reach todays state where it is essentially unlimited for all practical purposes.
the media producers ended up with a great deal: essentially permanent ownership, without having to hold up their end of the original bargain.
Do you really think that Hollywood would decide to just stop producing movies should their copyrights expire after, say, a decade or two?
(Think about those MAME rom's Amon mentioned above -- Despite the fact that it's impossible to purchase them from the original producers and that there is about 0 economical viability for those games in todays market, it will still be technically illegal to download them for decades to come. I guess it's their ball, and they're taking it home.)