Book People Archive

Re: [ebook-community] Sen. Hollings plans to introduce DMCA sequel: The SSSCA (fwd)

Tony,

A couple of comments to your comments:

"2. The new technology has created the means for the literary creator to
dispense with the middle-men, and not be dependent on the marketplace to be
able to publish. Let's fight to keep the means of production and
distribution as freely available as possible."

The new technology has also given publishers an excuse to screw over writers
even more than they traditionally have done.

"3. There are many people working to provide new free creative content,
and create non profit making ventures and works. We should support them
wholeheartedly, and if possible find ways to fund their work."

If the work needs to be funded, it is by definition not non-profit.  Why not
let the marketplace fund the work?  Point being, writers have a right to
expect compensation for their product, just as the manufacturers of any
other product do.

I'm not arguing at all in defense of the current copyright situation, which
is ludicrous and designed to protect big publishers and corporate entities
and not much in the interests of authors.  But there seem to be a lot of
people who have taken the ease of reproduction of work via the Internet as a
reason to think that all information should simply be freely available
(e.g., Napster).  This is a very slippery slope, and could easily result in
a diminishing of both the quality and quantity of information available,
rather than an increasing of it.

Bob Raven