Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.
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We Do, But We Aren’t: A critical examination of sex independent of marriage
The Christian community is rife with warnings about people having sexual relationships outside of the marriage commitment, a practice typically referred to as premarital sex. Abstinence is considered to be worth whatever hardship it incurs as it serves to enhance the lifelong sexual fulfillment provided by a spouse. That the Bible explicitly prohibits premarital sex…
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Creators Don’t Get to Choose Which Business Model Works
As it becomes harder and harder to attack the logic of the CwF+RtB business model, I’ve seen a lot more people reaching for a kind of compromise or balance option. It goes something like, “Okay, I see how this model can work, but it should be the creator’s choice whether or not they use it.”…
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I Don’t Believe in Imaginary Property
Despite the attempts to elevate it to something tantamount to actual items, so-called “intellectual property” occupies the Land of Make-Believe along with unicorns and elves. Yet the very suggestion that the monopoly privileges associated with IP are invalid raises hackles and provokes fervent responses from the faithful. Jack Valenti brilliantly set the course during his…
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Bennet Lincoff’s Proposal Has a Familiar Stink
The Bennet Lincoff proposal has been getting a decent bit of play from the “copyright compromise” crowd, and advocates replacing copyright with a renamed “digital transmission right” that covers how digital files are used online. It’s voluntary, but the unspoken part is of course that if you don’t pay for a license, you’re operating illegally…
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Paying Attention to Filesharing
Filesharers are all too often characterized as lawless neanderthals who “just want things for free.” Of course, the evidence shows that in fact, digital sales are increasing and many studies have suggested that sharers actually buy more. Unfortunately, two of the most popular conclusions from this completely overlook the nature (and power) of global information…
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How to Save the Music Industry
I first started getting interested in “copyfight” and issues related to filesharing in college, where I was introduced to a local network where resident students across the university campus could connect and share what they loved on- and offline. As the music industry continued to ratchet up their anti-sharing campaigns, I thought that the iTunes…
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Who Really Has the Moral High Ground on Filesharing?
A number of people I have talked to claim that they do not engage in filesharing because “it’s wrong,” a sentiment that seems deeply rooted in the idea that sharing files involves taking something that doesn’t belong to you; that is, stealing. These people believe they are taking the “moral high ground” by refusing to…
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Music, Evolved
I have been talking about the evolution of content distribution in my last couple of posts, and I’ve pulled together some thoughts about how this has affected the music industry specifically. Robert Heinlein said it best in his 1939 novel, Life-Line: “There has grown in the minds of certain groups in this country the idea…
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The “Right” to Get Paid?
The concept of an artist’s “right to get paid” for their efforts inevitably arises in any discussion of filesharing and the future of the web. The thought is that artists have worked hard for what they’ve produced and as a result, should be guaranteed some kind of compensation. Following this is the idea that if…
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Deconstructing Michael Lynton
For those of you who missed it, Michael Lynton is the venerable Charmain and CEO of MPAA member studio Sony Pictures entertainment who said, in words that are destined to be etched on the monument to the Days That Were, that “I’m a guy who sees nothing good having come from the Internet. Period.” He’s…