[PvK]

I entirely agree that it would be a big help to restore copyrights to 5-20 year limits.

However, it doesn't really address piracy before that period is up. It would help in the case of things like business applications software. I actually prefer 5-year old Versions of MS Office, for example, because it lacks the overblown crud and unwanted features.

Of course, existing megacorps will fight this tooth and nail, since it will make many of their products even less appealing than they currently are.

There are certain things which technology has made trivial and easy, which society's obsolete conceptions are keeping us from using. The longer humans take to realize this, the more sad we are. Some people seem to take capitalism as a moral principle, but for some things, thanks to technology, it wouldn't really need to be relevant any more except through the oppression of corporations and governments. Is it really a good thing for most of the population to feel that they must spend most of their time and energy doing work that they don't enjoy, or face homelessness and hunger (not to mention reduced access to entertainment media) even if there is plenty for everyone, even if thanks to technology, only the people who enjoy working in construction and food production do so? Is it good that when technology makes certain professions unneeded, that the corporations get all the benefits, while the obsolete workers get nothing but a sudden need to find new careers, or go homeless?

Some people seem to think that my idea for compensating digital content creators is unrealistic. Under the current system, many people develop computer games for corporations. For a major title, most of the money goes to Wal-Death and other chain retail stores, some goes to other vendors, the publisher makes or loses depending on how well the mass market responded, and the actual developers generally get a small slice. If games were distributed essentially for free over the net, then most of the money the public pays to the retail/distribution/publisher etc engines doesn't exist. If the public paid an agency for the right to all media in a catalog (which ideally, would be most/all media, in my opinion), much less would be needed to support the same amount of content.

Some have objected to the idea of paying for unwanted or disapproved content, but it seems like they've missed (dismissed?) the part about people being able to indicate which works and creators they appreciate (equally, they could say which ones they disapprove), and this would determine the amount of compensation.

This is not an abandonment of free enterprise, but a further liberation of enterprise and artistry from the yoke of megacorporations and the threat of starvation for struggling artists.

PvK