You know, Mr. President, it sure is easy to appear successful when one gets to redefine what success is based on what the statistics show.
Recently in Intellectual Property Category
Matt Yglesias and Atrios, make important points: copyright was not created to help the Disneys of the world make huge profits forever. It was created to promote the general welfare.
Or, as Atrios reminds us by reprinting the clause from the United States Constitution:
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.That's correct.
The Constitution's framers did not write "to promote the increase in certain corporate revenues forever."
I cannot imagine why a political party that spouts much rhetoric about needing to follow the original intent of the framers seems unable to understand this point.
Lawrence Lessig has an interesting post on his blog focusing on how an MP3.com lawyer overreacted to news that a band was utilizing a Creative Commons copyright.
(I should note that I am not impressed that the lawyer in question apparently does not know how to read. That is the only explanation given one of the charges the anonymous lawyer makes in his or her reply...)
