from the "I thought you said..." department: sharecropping in the digital age
The Washington Post published this op-ed today. While my announcement about changing channels said I was not promising to go silent on these issues, this article was accepted by the Post long before my announcement.
Comments (4)
" I suggest sharecropping will not survive long as a successful strategy for the remixer."
I sadly, respectfully, suggest that "ought" and "is" diverge here.
_Time_: "Getting Rich off Those Who Work for Free"
http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001149.html
When Apple announced the release of non-DRM-shackled music on its iTunes Store, various bloggers were ready to condemn the whole project because they suspected that Apple was including meta-data in their unlocked files that could identify the owner. John Gruber had an excellent blog post reminding these observers not to miss the forest for the trees. I have the same suggestion for Professor Lessig: baby steps by the entertainment industry towards open content should be celebrated, not condemned.
yes Artorios, can't agree more: open content should always be welcomed. Open content should become a standard.
I do agree with the previous posters that open content should always be welcomed, one should not forget the history of the content. That is to say, it should be welcomed and celebrated, but cautiously. It was a bold move for Apple to remove the DRM from some of the music they provide; but it was met with a healthy amount of suspicion. So yes, open content should be welcomed, but the users who went searching to determine if this music was truly open should also be applauded.