I have never seen anyone who works with media argue that patents are too
"soft." Doesn't the ARSC typically argue that copyright is already too
harsh? I see these as mutually exclusive ideas and I agree with the
latter.
-- Thatcher
On 8/16/2011 11:46 AM, Bob Olhsson wrote:
> A friend of mine predicted this a decade ago. He told me the tech industry
> was walking all over each other's patents and that as they consolidated
> there would be a patent war exactly like the one that resulted in RCA's
> monopoly of the late 1920s-early '50s.
>
> The problem is that better ideas (or better music) can't obtain the
> necessary investment to become fully realized and visible without patent and
> copyright protection. I think all intellectual property arguments come down
> to "I deserve protection for my intellectual property but you don't deserve
> protection for yours because needing to pay you will make my business less
> profitable." This is why I call arguments against copyright "selective
> socialism." And people's rationalizations for not paying are endless. As for
> Google, I can't imagine any cell phone that doesn't walk all over both
> Motorola and Nokia patents because Motorola invented the portable phone and
> Nokia invented the cell. This isn't rocket science and shouldn't be much of
> a surprise.
>
> Make no mistake about the fact that Google, Apple and Microsoft's "business
> model" all along has been a David Sarnoff style patent monopoly. I can
> assure you that ownership of "content" is also very much in their gun-sights
> as the mass-looting they've enabled devalues the existing media publishing
> industries to the point that they can be acquired for little or nothing.
>
> The only thing protecting individuals from these monopolies will be the
> copyright and patent laws. They really ought to be strengthened but the
> best government money can buy has been lobbied for weakening them by Silicon
> Valley investment bankers for over a decade using endless tales of "Evil
> Disney" and "copyright monopolies."
>
> Hopefully people will begin to wake up to the fact that these folks are
> really not our friends.
>
>
> Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
> Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
> Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
> 615.562.4346 http://www.bobolhsson.com http://audiomastery.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tom Fine
> Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 5:23 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Morning reading: One take on patents, somewhat related
> to discussions we've had on copyrights, plus a take on copyrights
>
> http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/08/google-motorola-and-a
> -patent-war.html
>
> others would argue that the patent system is fine, it ain't broke, that the
> whole point is for closely-related ideas to fight it out in courts, with the
> patents being the guide for those deciding the cases.
>
> More directly related to what we discuss on this list:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/arts/music/springsteen-and-others-soon-eli
> gible-to-recover-song-rights.html
>
> -- Tom Fine
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