[svlug] Re: [nylug-talk] Bunch of Cuckoo's FoilingNapsterUsers??

[dfox@belvdere.vip.best.com]

> If a copy machine advertised accross the world that is has 
> unlimited copies to take for nothing of any book you

Well, that's a good analogy, but still some people wish to
read books in the paper form, and although you can print it
out and read it, do you want to spend the time, paper, and
toner to do so?

> even more name brand books which you can order for free,
> an unlimited number of copies....

Well, once you have it in a convenient form, you can make as many
copies as you want, and you don't need the service anymore. 

Project Gutenberg is a service and a collaborative effort to
provide free electronic copies of books on the Internet. However,
these books are now in the public domain.

Personally, I don't think whether someone can get to it free
is the issue. The issue is that people have convenient access
to things they did not have before just by having an Internet
connection. That means they have access to things that politically
are forbidden in some countries, like Iran/Iraq/etc. Here in the
US, the government can't censor print or speech (because of the
constitution) so they invent the DMCA to do an end-run around the
First Amendment, and claim they're protecting the rights of businesses.

Metallica should be proud that people from Iraq (potentially) have the
ability to hear their music. 

> Ruben I Safir
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David E. Fox                                    Thanks for letting me
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