The catalyst that finally got me up off my ass and made me start writing in this blog was copyright nonsense. In this post, you can see an example of lawyers gone crazy and the inanity of over-protecting media. This trend is only getting worse, and the more ways to create and distribute media that are invented, the crazier and wilder become the copyright laws.
A website that I reference often, link to frequently and get inspired by daily is boingboing.net. Boingboing.net is a blog compiled from entries by several people, and some weekly guest bloggers. (Lat week's guest was Susannah Breslin who is the author of one of my favorite blogs, The Reverse Cowgirl.) A driving force and frequent poster for boingboing.net is Cory Doctorow. He is a fucking smart individual, (and if you want a sneak peek at what a smart man is interested in, here's his interview with the A.V. Club). Mr. Doctorow wrote a book called Little Brother which is a a work of fiction intended for young adults. I haven't read it yet, as I am without a computer at home, and therefore have no way of printing off the pages, but I'll get there eventually. Here is the synopsis:
(from http://craphound.com/littlebrother/about/)
" Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.
But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.
When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself."
Mr. Doctorow is very passionate about our digital rights and is full of useful information and opinions about why digital copyright is dangerously close to taking over our daily lives. We all use computers, so yes, we are susceptible.
Today's necessary reading is a post by Mr. Doctorow on locusmag.com. His thoughts about copyright law are very interesting and should be read by everyone. Check out what he has to say, and then reevaluate the things you do online every single day.
http://www.locusmag.com/Features/2008/11/cory-doctorow-why-i-copyfight.html
This brings me to something else that I find endlessly interesting: the nature of people to think that what's going on now is unique and original. Mr. Doctorow's novel is not the first time an author has explored the idea of kids being vastly technologically superior to adults. Here's a great short story by Bruce Bethke title, "Cyberpunk". Keep in mind that this story was written in 1980.
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