Excellent text, but where was it published on the 7th of July, URL?<br><br><br>- Nicolas<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Alex Foti <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:alex.foti@gmail.com">alex.foti@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">for archive-minded pirates. ciao, lx<br>
<br>
Copyright laws threaten our online freedom<br>
By Christian Engström<br>
<br>
Published: July 7 2009 18:10 | Last updated: July 7 2009 18:10<br>
<br>
If you search for Elvis Presley in Wikipedia, you will find a lot of<br>
text and a few pictures that have been cleared for distribution. But<br>
you will find no music and no film clips, due to copyright<br>
restrictions. What we think of as our common cultural heritage is not<br>
“ours” at all.<br>
<br>
On MySpace and YouTube, creative people post audio and video remixes<br>
for others to enjoy, until they are replaced by take-down notices<br>
handed out by big film and record companies. Technology opens up<br>
possibilities; copyright law shuts them down.<br>
<br>
EDITOR’S CHOICE<br>
Curb on content threatens France Telecom - Jul-07E-retailers find big<br>
brands hard to touch - Jul-07This was never the intent. Copyright was<br>
meant to encourage culture, not restrict it. This is reason enough for<br>
reform. But the current regime has even more damaging effects. In<br>
order to uphold copyright laws, governments are beginning to restrict<br>
our right to communicate with each other in private, without being<br>
monitored.<br>
<br>
File-sharing occurs whenever one individual sends a file to another.<br>
The only way to even try to limit this process is to monitor all<br>
communication between ordinary people. Despite the crackdown on<br>
Napster, Kazaa and other peer-to-peer services over the past decade,<br>
the volume of file-sharing has grown exponentially. Even if the<br>
authorities closed down all other possibilities, people could still<br>
send copyrighted files as attachments to e-mails or through private<br>
networks. If people start doing that, should we give the government<br>
the right to monitor all mail and all encrypted networks? Whenever<br>
there are ways of communicating in private, they will be used to share<br>
copyrighted material. If you want to stop people doing this, you must<br>
remove the right to communicate in private. There is no other option.<br>
Society has to make a choice.<br>
<br>
The world is at a crossroads. The internet and new information<br>
technologies are so powerful that no matter what we do, society will<br>
change. But the direction has not been decided.<br>
<br>
The technology could be used to create a Big Brother society beyond<br>
our nightmares, where governments and corporations monitor every<br>
detail of our lives. In the former East Germany, the government needed<br>
tens of thousands of employees to keep track of the citizens using<br>
typewriters, pencils and index cards. Today a computer can do the same<br>
thing a million times faster, at the push of a button. There are many<br>
politicians who want to push that button.<br>
<br>
The same technology could instead be used to create a society that<br>
embraces spontaneity, collaboration and diversity. Where the citizens<br>
are no longer passive consumers being fed information and culture<br>
through one-way media, but are instead active participants<br>
collaborating on a journey into the future.<br>
<br>
The internet it still in its infancy, but already we see fantastic<br>
things appearing as if by magic. Take Linux, the free computer<br>
operating system, or Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Witness the<br>
participatory culture of MySpace and YouTube, or the growth of the<br>
Pirate Bay, which makes the world’s culture easily available to<br>
anybody with an internet connection. But where technology opens up new<br>
possibilities, our intellectual property laws do their best to<br>
restrict them. Linux is held back by patents, the rest of the examples<br>
by copyright.<br>
<br>
The public increasingly recognises the need for reform. That was why<br>
Piratpartiet – the Pirate party – won 7.1 per cent of the popular vote<br>
in Sweden in the European Union elections. This gave us a seat in the<br>
European parliament for the first time.<br>
<br>
Our manifesto is to reform copyright laws and gradually abolish the<br>
patent system. We oppose mass surveillance and censorship on the net,<br>
as in the rest of society. We want to make the EU more democratic and<br>
transparent. This is our entire platform.<br>
<br>
We intend to devote all our time and energy to protecting the<br>
fundamental civil liberties on the net and elsewhere. Seven per cent<br>
of Swedish voters agreed with us that it makes sense to put other<br>
political differences aside in order to ensure this.<br>
<br>
Political decisions taken over the next five years are likely to set<br>
the course we take into the information society, and will affect the<br>
lives of millions for many years into the future. Will we let our<br>
fears lead us towards a dystopian Big Brother state, or will we have<br>
the courage and wisdom to choose an exciting future in a free and open<br>
society?<br>
<br>
The information revolution is happening here and now. It is up to us<br>
to decide what future we want.<br>
<br>
<br>
The writer is the Pirate party’s member of the European parliament<br>
____________________________________________________<br>
Pirate Parties International - General Talk<br>
<a href="mailto:pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net">pp.international.general@lists.pirateweb.net</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general" target="_blank">http://lists.pirateweb.net/mailman/listinfo/pp.international.general</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br>