Re: Your paranoia is showing, Andrew
Mr Cobb, as a creator of fiction, I am touched that you are willing to give me a very limited monopoly for a limited amount of time. That's very generous of you. And you are confident that, even though you deprive me of my earnings, I will continue to gladden your life with what I produce. (I am using myself merely as an example. Fill in with your favorite composer writer, film-maker).
There is no 'balance of interests'. The interests of the user is to have what I do and pay as little as possible for it. Put any two other groups here: car-makers and customers, for instance, or soft-drink manufacturers and customers. Where do Fiat or Toyota bow down to users interests? Where should they? Does Coca-cola admit that they need to loosen their grip on their product, in the interests of the consumer? But when it comes to products from a person's mind (a song, a book), suddenly it's something else and the creator is not allowed to own it in the same way. Geez, even a mom-and-pop corner store has more rights than you would allow, say, Steve Reich or Leonard Cohen or Michael Chabon.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
