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The Egregious Economist
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| I continue to be gobsmacked by the egregious stupidity of The Economist:
|
| Commercial piracy may not be as horrific as the seaborne version off the
| Horn of Africa.... But stealing other people’s R&D, artistic endeavour or
| even journalism is still theft.
|
| Not only is it not as horrific as what occurs off the Horn of Africa, it is a
| total insult to parrot such a stupid, loaded metaphor, which consciously
| tries to equate the two. And for the six billionth time, it's *not* theft, no
| matter how many times you repeat it: it's infringement.
|
| Nothing is stolen: you still have your R&D, your artistic endeavour or even
| your journalism.
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http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/07/egregious-economist.html
Recent:
A Czar for the Digital Peasants
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| One sure sign of a lack of political vision is a rise in the number of pieces
| of acronymic legislation. After September 11, the US Congress passed the
| euphoniously named “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
| Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act” the
| initials of which spell out “USA – Patriot.” The Patriot Act is a pretty bad
| piece of legislation, but at least its drafters worked hard on the acronyms
| so that opponents could be labelled “anti-patriot” – a perfect level of
| analysis for Fox News. Admittedly, in this administration, having public
| officials torturing acronyms rather than detainees might be counted as a
| plus, but I still find the whole practice distasteful. I'd suggest that
| politicians vow to vote against any piece of legislation with its own
| normatively loaded acronym, no matter how otherwise appealing. It might make
| them focus a little more on the content.
|
| In any event, Congress has been at it again. The House just passed, and the
| Senate is considering, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for
| Intellectual Property Act of 2008 – or “Pro-IP” Act. (If it passes, a version
| is sure to be urged on Europe as a matter of “harmonisation.”) Are you
| pro-intellectual property? Then surely you must be for this piece of
| legislation! The name says it all.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14aacbc8-41e1-11dd-a5e8-0000779fd2ac.html
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