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http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140123/07494325966/ice-takes-to-twitter-ridiculous-attempt-to-defend-interrogating-man-movie-theater-wearing-google-glass.shtml#c1625>
This comment is an important point on the ethics of cultural access:
"Generally speaking, when the public can't afford works, the moral thing
to do is to create free access to those works.
It is why public libraries are an ethical good. It is why copyright
exceptions for public schools are an ethical good. It is why it is an
ethical good to create public performance exceptions for churches and
non-profits.
It is such an ethical good, in fact, that early copyright laws
explicitly stated that publishers had to produce editions that would be
affordable by the general public. If they didn't do this, they lost
their copyrights.
The question you should ask yourself is not whether it is unethical for
the pubic to "take" cultural works. The question you should ask is why
it is in any way ethical to stop them.
And it is not ethical. It may be a necessary evil, but it is an evil
nonetheless."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
