We live in a world dominated by large intellectual property dinosaurs.
We think that copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual property should be abolished. Proudhon said it long ago, that “property is theft,” and if anything current intellectual property fights on the Internet bolster his claim. Intellectual property is for those with power, who can use the force of the state to enforce their claims. But intellectual property simply gets in the way of communication and the sharing of ideas, be it in the arts or in biology.
The mouse who would be king
Disney’s ever-expanding copyright powers are threatening to squash everyone’s cultural creativity. As two new books compellingly argue, the time is ripe for more anarchy, and fewer lawyers.
Phantom editors
If Hollywood studios could deliver their dream products in their dream formats, they would send every first-run film via electronic pipes to thousands of theatres around the world. Digital projectors would emit high-quality images on screens. And the studios could control which versions got to which theatres. Theatres in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, Singapore, or Utah might receive versions that lacked nudity. Theatres in New York, Amsterdam, and San Francisco might receive versions with extra nudity.
More Intellectual Property News
Blogs
- bIPlog
- commons-blog
- Copyfight
- A Copyfighter’s Musings
- Creative Commons
- Current copyright readings
- EFF blogs
- Freedom to Tinker
- FurdLog
- LawMeme
- Lawrence Lessig
- Peter Levine
- Open Access News
- Scholarly Electronic Publishing Weblog
- Wendy Selzer
- soundCommons
ARTICLES
- Anarchism Triumphant: Free Software and the Death of Copyright
- “This use of intellectual property rules to create a commons in cyberspace is the central institutional structure enabling the anarchist triumph. Ensuring free access and enabling modification at each stage in the process means that the evolution of software occurs in the fast Lamarckian mode: each favorable acquired characteristic of others’ work can be directly inherited. Hence the speed with which the Linux kernel, for example, outgrew all of its proprietary predecessors. Because defection is impossible, free riders are welcome, which resolves one of the central puzzles of collective action in a propertarian social system. ”
- Another Word About Plagiarism
- The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond
- Changing Copyright by Negativland
- Copyright Law is Wrong
- Is Corporate Research Funding Leading To Secrecy in Science?
- Foraging on Internet For Raw Materials
- Indigenous People, Genes and Genetics: What Indigenous People Should Know About Biocolonialism
- Intellectual Value by Esther Dyson
- The Internet and the Anti-net
- Invention Or Contrivance? Biotechnology, Intellectual Property Rights & Regulation
- Land-Speed-Trials: Winners and Losers in the Biotechnology Race
- Life, Liberty and… the Pursuit of Copyright
- Negativland’s Tenets Of Free Appropriation
- Misleading News Coverage Concerning HGDP
- Read them and weep: Under the guise of protecting copyrights, measures threaten readers
- Rhizome: detritus references
- “Shiny, Aluminum, Plastic, and Digital”
- Tracks of Freedom
News
- Hackers Launch Anti-Censorship Browser
- File Sharing Goes Hardcore
- Feasability of alternative namespaces
- The Confounded Mr. Valenti
- The Death Of Intellectual Property
- Copyright as Censorship
- GrayDay.org website parodies pro-copyright site
- Dysfunctional Family Circus told to shut down.
- Microsoftedu.com receives cease-and-desist from Microsoft
- Kelloggs vs. Poptart Monkeys
- ADL threatens AADL over trademark
- Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith argues that it owns the word “anti-defamation.” They sent a threatening letter to the Anarchist Anti-Defamation League (AADL).
Web Sites Critical of Intellectual Property
- Against Intellectual Property
- Applying Copyleft To Non-Software Information
- Biotechnology, Intellectual Property Rights and Regulation
- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse
- EFF Consortium for Free Expression
- The Free Music Philosophy
- Free Patents
- Campaign dedicated to keeping software patents out of Europe.
- Free Software Foundation
- GrayDay.org
- Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism
- Negativland – Intellectual Property Issues
- OpenSource.org
- RTMark.com
- Creators of the George Bush parody site and the Barbie Liberation Front.
Trademark Fights
- Archie Comics versus baby Veronica
- FOX vs. King of the Hill fan sites
- Another King of the Hill site shut down
- Dysfunctional Family Circus
- Former Playmate Wins Right to Use Title on Web Site
- More Fun With “For Dummies” Trademarks
- Ruling Draws a Line on Trademarks and the Web
- Radio Shack vs. Bianca’s Smut Shack
- Trademark Wars On The Web
- TSR/Copyright Debate Compilation
Domain Disputes
- Verizon Attacks Critical Domain Names
- Court OKs some domains with trademarked names
- ICANN Rules on Dot Com Disputes
- Porn site squeezed by juice maker
