New at Reason

August 22, 2007

Crispin Sartwell schools the leaders of higher education on their blundering efforts to prevent copyright infringement.

Comments

|8.22.07 @ 12:29PM|#

Gee, I always thought that Libertarians were supposed to be for private property.

|8.22.07 @ 12:34PM|#

"Gee, I always thought that Libertarians were supposed to be for private property."

And the post is about intellectual property. Perhaps you posted in the wrong thread or are confused somehow?

|8.22.07 @ 12:41PM|#

The businesses that comprise the RIAA and MPAA started with the understanding the copyright was a limitation on the First Amendment, had fair use provisions, and that there are no fences to physically protect their wares. They've been able to bribe congress into protecting their content more and more like personal or real property.

|8.22.07 @ 12:42PM|#

#34,581

|8.22.07 @ 1:13PM|#

Intellectual property is a form of private property, read the constitution already.

|8.22.07 @ 1:33PM|#

zipper,

It is true that the constitution empowers Congress To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. However, the founders got it wrong. Such securities have failed to promote progress. Indeed they have retarded it. In addition, the phrase "limited times" has lost all meaning.

|8.22.07 @ 1:41PM|#

Totally offtopic: Dr. Sartwell - howdy from a former student. Intro Philosophy, Fall 1993. Roll Tide! ;-)

|8.22.07 @ 1:57PM|#

Zipper: If IP were like personal property, the Constitution wouldn't have to make special provision for it. Personal and real property were established concepts at the time the constitution was ratified. IP had only been in existence less than a century, was poorly understood and was not widely enforced.

Thank you for your concerns. Now leave.

Anonymo the Anonymous|8.22.07 @ 2:07PM|#

Roll Tide!

Civic duty requires me to respond with War Damn Eagle.

|8.22.07 @ 2:49PM|#

I, too, am compelled by SEC rule to say, Go Gators.

Paul|8.22.07 @ 4:01PM|#

think the trade groups actually wrote the text of the law

This isn't uncommon at all. A few years ago, new state laws and regs were passed for people running CAT-5 cable. When I called the state to find out what some of the more ambiguous texts of the regs meant, the person at the enforcement office for the state actually said, and I quote: "I dunno, you guys wrote the law."

"you guys" meant the trade groups, ie, the private sector-- in case that wasn't clear.

|8.22.07 @ 4:05PM|#

Paul,

Statutes are supposed to be different than regs. Supposed to be.

Paul|8.22.07 @ 4:07PM|#

Gee, I always thought

Why is it I always cringe when a post begins with "Gee"?

Paul|8.22.07 @ 4:09PM|#

Statutes are supposed to be different than regs. Supposed to be.

I'm with ya on that, Lamar. I'm just sayin', that if you really got into the down-and-dirty business of finding out where laws come from (like sausages), you'd probably find a lot of law texts (statutes, as well) are written by trade groups, especially where economic protection is the goal.

|8.22.07 @ 4:59PM|#

draft annual lists of the 25 colleges receiving the most notices of copyright infringement

So the list of universities to punish would depend on their comparative guilt? That's scary. If 25 universities let just one illegal download each on thier computer systems and the rest have a perfect record, those 25 are stuck.

|8.22.07 @ 5:40PM|#

©2007 Reason Magazine. All Rights Reserved.

|8.22.07 @ 8:18PM|#

jtuf
They should have thought of that before they allowed the download. They should be shut down! Next year the top 10 schools that thought about allowing illegal downloads should be shut down. And so on....

|8.22.07 @ 8:19PM|#

Opps. I guess I should have said the next 25 thought crime schools should be shut down. I don't know why I limited it to 10.

grylliade|8.23.07 @ 12:35AM|#

I, too, feel compelled to say: Go Vols! Beat Bama!

|8.23.07 @ 9:24AM|#

grylliade,

My godparents/cousins are a mixed marriage--'Bama and Volunteer. Amazing that they're still married. Of course, as the lone Gator in the family (most of my family, including my parents, are from Tennessee), I'm persona non grata.

|8.23.07 @ 2:49PM|#

Lamar;

Sophism and elitism make a bad combination and are a very poor substitute for debate.

|8.24.07 @ 12:38AM|#

zipper:

But one cannot disregard historical antecedents. The study of History makes for an informed debate, regardless of how elitist it might portend.

|8.24.07 @ 12:42AM|#

"©2007 Reason Magazine. All Rights Reserved."

Good point. How many universities has Reason sued? How many copyright infringement suits against students? I'd like to know. If the answer is zero, the above quote is meaningless.

jlk|8.27.07 @ 12:33AM|#

I know we already covered this topic during the summer, but how would you feel about next meeting we deal with the 9/11 Truth movement? I recently been researching the movement alot after getting floored in a debate by a Truther and I thought, considering the large size of our club now, that we could use it as an opprotunity to provide a large audince talking points that counter the claims of the Conspiracy Theorists.