Friday, February 19, 2010

Shoot first, ask questions never

Have I given you enough examples of what's wrong with copyright today? What's wrong with the much touted American DMCA, the model the world is supposed to follow to protect the music industry? OK, then here's yet another example. Snippet:

"Last week, several high-profile, much-loved music blogs disappeared from Google's Blogspot service, after they were targeted by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI -- the international version of the RIAA). IFPI didn't target pirate websites here. Among the sites it took down was I Rock Cleveland, a site whose author painstakingly sought and received explicit permission to post every single track and excerpt he put up (though in many cases, he could have relied on fair use rather than going to the effort). By using the law to annihilate labours of love like I Rock Cleveland, sites that obeyed all the rules and sought permission from the copyright holders at every turn, IFPI's message is simple: "Don't bother getting permission. Just take stuff. You're wasting your time trying to obey the law. It all comes out the same in the end -- we don't care whether you obey our rules or not."

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