Hi: I've been thinking about this some. I'd like to respond to the
following statement, below:
Seth Johnson wrote:
- - -snip - - -
This text actually makes clear where we stand and
brings us close to confronting the fact that in the digital
age, citizens in a free society have more fundamental rights
than those of either distributors or creators.
Seth Johnson
Prior to the Digital Age, there was a historical separation of
distributors, creators, and citizens who would receive the products of
the distributors and creators. Thus, was associated the fundamental
rights that Seth refers to with general classification depending on the
group one was a member of. Today, as we embark into the Digital Age,
the lines between distributor, creator, and citizen blurs, not because
of anything other than, the timeframe for switching from distributor to
creator to citizen shortens dramatically. For example, a citizen can
receive the product of a creator, and almost instantly switch to that of
a creator, and within seconds, is capable of distributing that which she
has created as a result of the inspiration and innovation resulting from
the receipt of the original creator's product.
The Creative Commons Project contributes the promise of providing the
legal framework for contacting and arranging agreements between creators
and innovators within minutes in many instances. The distributors that
heretofore had control over much of the creating process, now face new
challenges. How will they fit into an electronic distribution system
that no longer relies on specialized equipment and materials and services?
With these thoughts in mind, maybe the fundamental rights don't
necessarily change, but the citizen's access to creator and distributor
rights is greatly facilitated. A distributor does not have to be
restricted to that role, but, in fact, can broaden her base of
operations, and begin to enjoy the roles of creator and citizen in a
more dramatic fashion. As a distributor in the Digital Age, one would
expect her to begin to build on her past with entry into both the
creator and citizen roles that weren't available or desired. An
efficient economy claimed by neoclassicists, emphasizes the need to
reduce the number of transactions to maximize the profit. Here, we have
in the Digital Age, a beautiful example of how to accomplish that goal,
if we view the individual as capable of being a profit generating entity
unto itself.
Thanks,
Tom Poe
Open Studios
Reno, NV
--
http://www.studioforrecording.org/
http://www.ibiblio.org/studioforrecording/
http://www.studioforrecording.org/mt/Pubdomain_Bread/
--
Please go to EFF.org page at http://www.eff.org
and register for the TAKE ACTION page.
If you can donate $5 to them, that'll help, too
--