RE: Information & Power /Copyrights
Billy Brown (bbrown@conemsco.com)
Fri, 7 May 1999 09:43:18 -0500
Well, after looking back over the archives I can see that we aren't likely
to come to a meeting of minds on this topic. I think that property rights
are a necessary precondition of production and trade, and therefore that
abolishing copyright would lead to a precipitous decline in the production
of intellectual property. You apparently believe that abolishing copyright
would actually lead to an increase in such production.
On the good side, at least this is a question of fact and not some
unmeasurable philosophical issue. Unfortunately, what we really need to
settle the issue is an example of an actual modern society without copyright
laws. AFAIK there isn't any such place, so we are left with a distressing
absence of data.
Since you apparently don't accept the arguments from economic theory, or
from historical precedent, I suppose we'll just have to continue to disagree
until someone actually performs the experiment.
Billy Brown, MCSE+I
bbrown@conemsco.com