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Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Re: Who owns the copyright to Busby's book?
I don't want to make the mistake again of letting an off-topic subject run too long -- to the point where everyone agrees to drop it -- before I can get my 2 cents in... ;-) ]
At 06:38 -0500 9/15/00, D. Blake wrote:
>This whole copyright bull crap reminds me of Gene Simmons the bass player
>for KISS.
>After years of using the term "axe" in reference to their beloved guitars by
>musicians everywhere, Simmons takes out a copyright on the term "axe" and
>forces everyone who uses the word to pay him royalties! Jeez, talk about a
>money-grubbing Jerk!
Now that's just silly. In fact, it sounds a great deal like an "urban legend." Perhaps Simmons TRIED to copyright "axe," but was told it was silly?
>Did I mention I hate rich people?
What's wrong with money?
On the surface[*], I find that awfully confusing. You hate both Commies AND rich people?
Aren't rich people just people, with more money than you (or me)? So you hate them for what they own? What if they earned it? Maybe you need to think that one out a little more. What more of a good old-fashioned freedom-loving all-American ideal than getting rich?
Dave later asked of Phil:
>Really? How many ideas have you come up with yourself, and not those who
>work for you? I hate confrontation. It's such a waste of energy, and you
>are probably stressed for time to meet your next speaking engagement.
>Still, good for you! You have found your nich. A more seductive career
>would be to help people rather than use them.
This sounds even more confusingly like a mixed message. Marxists are the ones who froth about bosses vs. workers, labor vs. capital, and "exploitation" all the time.
Phil does something he loves, and makes what sounds like good money at it, and lives the kind of life one can live with that kind of money and those kinds of associations. I respect that MORE than if he didn't "get rich" off it. Let me go on the record here, with three cheers for free enterprise and rich people. Yay capitalism. Yes, I expect he came up with many of the ideas -- and further don't discount the investment of "the boss" in the company his employees work within (and don't forget they get compensated by getting paid, and that if they didn't like the arrangement they could start their own company.)
>Oh yes I do, it limits the free exchange of ideas, and reduces intellect to
>a monetary value. Intellect is a virtue stretching back to the ancient
>Greeks and Biblical times as something to be shared and not exploited.
Nonsense. Something can be "shared" without being given away for free. If intellect isn't a monetary Value, just what the heck is? Why WOULDN'T works of the mind deserve compensation? It's the most personal posession any of us has, and the single greatest thing to engage in free trade with. In fact, the Mind is really the ONLY thing we have to deal with -- all of human civilization and every value we can exchange is the product of somebody's mind. If you don't own the products of your own unique imagination... what CAN you own? Strip it down to essentials, and your mind is the ONLY thing you have to offer in trade to make a living.
I really, really think you ought to examine your own feelings on this. I wonder if you're letting your obvious anger cloud your judgement.
I think I understand (at least partly) where you're coming from. Much of the "spirit" of this group rests with the free-for-all nature of backyard projects and offer-any-stranger-a-beer brotherhood of those with like interests. But I don't think that's even slightly at odds with respecting intellectual property (which to me just means: fair exchange and just compensation for the work of an individual's mind). In my respectful and humble opinion, I think you're making a hasty correlation, and seeing a conflict where none should be. A false dichotomy. There's no contradiction between being warm and friendly and sharing ideas and being concerned with one's fellow hobbyists -- and getting as rich as one possibly can from one's ideas at the same time.
Again: what's wrong with money? If something's good and valuable, isn't it WORTH something?
[*]: note to myself -- add this to list of PSUB puns... "on the surface," "muddy the waters" Ho-hum...
--
David
Osage MN USA
buchner@wcta.net - http://customer.wcta.net/buchner