In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Homer
<usenet@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:17:35 +0100
<f96lk5-knn.ln1@xxxxxxxxxx>:
> Verily I say unto thee, that The Ghost In The Machine spake thusly:
>
>> It's worse than that. Someone out there is disrespecting
>> AT&T and Apple, possibly violating copyright law, certainly
>> violating trade secrets.
>
> Gosh darn it, that jist ain't American, I tell ya.
>
I wonder. The US has a rather complicated history,
especially when one throws in our westward expansion,
barbed wire (which stopped cattle rustling and/or free
grazing), and oil trusts. At times, we are for freedom,
rugged individualism, "DIY", defending our liberties,
and expressing outselves in various fashions, not all of
them peaceful, especially where firearms are involved.
At other times, we are for the betterment of corporatists
everywhere, the so-called "free market" (which isn't all
that free once one gets into the range of ogliopoly or
monopoly), the deregulation of industries and lowering
of taxes for the rich (and maybe the poor, but we also
want to cut off most of their benefits programs!), and
the evisceration of government (which is supposed to be
helping people, for the most part, Reaganomics theory
notwithstanding).
My brain hurts. (And yet, properly managed, capitalism
does appear to function more effectively than communism;
the fall of the Iron Curtain made that very clear.)
At its best, Microsoft is a hugely successful example of
a modern American corporation, aggressively competing,
incorporating many innovations into its software, selling
its wares worldwide, partnering with many other firms to
better their and its products, and actively engaged in
various philanthropic endeavors, leveraging its world-wide
brand recognition for the betterment of mankind and/or
its customers.
At its worst, Microsoft is an evil modern corporatist along
the lines of Standard Oil early in the previous century,
blocking innovation and competition in target markets (many
of them worldwide), gobbling up relatively defenseless
firms to better its own products (or keep them from being
bettered by erstwhile competitors), and actively engaged
in various endeavors which involve giving away software
(under the guise of philanthropy) in order to encourage
later revenue streams, and leveraging its world-wide brand
recognition for its own betterment.
The truth undoubtedly lies somewhere in "no-man's land"....
It is naive, however, to think that these characteristics
(good or bad) apply only to Microsoft; to some extent, we
have similar issues with various media labels. The most
obvious issue might be "payola", which is more precisely
a form of payment to radio stations for specific songs and
such. However, one could probably dig up quite a bit of,
erm, stuff, and Terry Pratchett made an interesting (and
rather nasty!) offhand comment in one of his Discworld
books regarding the recording industry, essentially
comparing them to bandits.
At least Exxon-Mobil has to have oil to sell in order
to manipulate the oil/fuels market. ;-) But how does
one characterize a song, piece of software, or video?
Is it really beneficial for Apple, in the long run,
to lock down its iPhone? Why?
Is copyright law in dire need of an upgrade? Does the
right not to distribute one's work truly exist?
Welcome to the New World Order.
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
GNU and improved.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **
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