Sharp Corner

I posted this comment today, in response to an article by Jonathan Coulton about the recent shutting down of MegaUpload, wherein he discusses copyright and questions the actual results of piracy and the government’s attempts to end it:

When in the course of history has there ever been a movement for government to legislate an industry into existence?

I’m no anthropologist or historian, but it seems perfectly natural for me that money is made when a business provides something that consumers can not acquire for themselves. The price is determined by the difficulty of acquiring the end product. Diamonds cost a lot because they are difficult to find and dirt is cheap because I have a shovel and a backyard.

The Internet has made art easy to acquire. People used to need marketers, TV stations, radios, advertisers, CD printers, album makers, and all kinds of services to experience art. Those people were doing something that was worth being paid for. Now, however, these business are not as necessary anymore. I can pluck music from around the world out of the air.

It didn’t become illegal to have a car because carriage companies would go out of business. Why should it be ONLY legal to get art through art companies? Why do you have to pay a company money because you MIGHT play music in your bar?

It’s because companies are writing the laws. They are redefining the word “piracy” to mean “not giving us money for something you can get for free”. They have succeeded in making people believe that just because something is easy to get is not enough of a reason to not pay for it.

I’m not saying art isn’t valuable. It’s one of the most valuable things that exists. I’m saying that we don’t need what they are selling, but they have taken control of the government and can FORCE us to give them money. This is fundamentally wrong.