The sociological aspect of copyright issues
The recent excitement related to SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and reading a number of articles on the network analyzing copyright problems made me think a little about this issue and consider it both from the point of view of an amateur sociologist and from a professional point of view. and semi-professionally engaged in creativity as a programmer and film playwright. I must say right away that a number of conclusions stated below may seem naive, since I did not conduct any in-depth research, and I build a logical chain only on the facts with a brief grasp by me from the information stream for many years.
Let's start with the conclusion. And the conclusion I got is the following ...
The copyright problems caused by the proliferation of the Internet and digital data processing tools are unsolvable in principle within the framework of a modern civilizational structure. It is civilizational, not technological, market or legal. No technological, legal or market methods can solve the problems - all this, in the common language, "what a dead poultice."
Now let's try to substantiate this conclusion point by point.
It is obvious to any person who has even read a little literature on ethology , as well as being engaged in creativity, that creativity is based on two instincts - playful and sexual. And if the first of them is used (or can be used) to increase social status only indirectly, or is not used at all, then the second is directly related to a set of hierarchical and territorial instincts.
And since money is the ultimate materialization of hierarchical instincts in the modern world, almost all technological, legal and market methods of solving copyright problems “from below” (from the people) considered in the network can be reformulated in one phrase -“Dear authors, immediately stop using sexual instincts for creativity, and from now on use only gaming ones!”
This is possible. But exclusively in the following situations:
a) sexual instincts are blocked at the physiological level - for example, due to overpopulation;
b) the most sexually active individuals in the population are destroyed through spontaneous or planned genocide;
c) there is a massive substitution of concepts on an instinctive, physiological level in order to break the link “sex = hierarchy” and introduce the link “sex = game”;
d) legislative and tax restrictions on the accumulation of money by private individuals.
All this set of situations could be observed in different countries throughout the entire 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.
If we briefly delve into the history of copyright , we find that its appearance is clearly connected with the beginning of the industrial revolution, and the appearance of its modern problems is clearly connected with the end of the industrial revolution in developed countries and the beginning of discussion of the concept of “post-industrial society” .
That is, copyright and the industrial revolution are two concepts that go side by side. Although here, of course, they can object to me, recalling the old joke about the correlation between the number of pirates and global warming (which, after an in-depth analysis, may still be no joke at all).
Accordingly, the peak of problems, as everyone can see, is located on the borders of social strata in developed countries and on the actual and virtual borders between countries that have undergone the industrial revolution and countries that are at different stages. So, before the end of the industrial revolution around the world, one should not expect any progress in this regard. The “golden billion” cannot drive the rest of the world into eternal slavery!
But as soon as the industrial revolution is completed on a global scale, all the restrictions of copyright will look as ridiculous as it now looks like a bow to a man with an aristocratic title.
So we came to a picture of the world in which current problems with copyright are either absent or strictly isolated socially and geographically (similar to the ghetto). What are its main parameters?
1. Fertility is either only for the reproduction of the population or negative.
2. Socialism and socially-oriented capitalism on the entire planet in options from “soft-Chinese” to “hard-Swedish”.
3. The approximately uniform distribution of industrial production throughout the world. Some kind of new technological revolution that allows us to solve the modern problems of this production.
If we discard the apocalyptic scenarios, then I think the majority will agree that this is the direction where humanity is moving. The only question remains - when will we come to this world?
This article is licensed under Creative Commons BY 3.0 .
Let's start with the conclusion. And the conclusion I got is the following ...
The copyright problems caused by the proliferation of the Internet and digital data processing tools are unsolvable in principle within the framework of a modern civilizational structure. It is civilizational, not technological, market or legal. No technological, legal or market methods can solve the problems - all this, in the common language, "what a dead poultice."
Now let's try to substantiate this conclusion point by point.
The nature of creativity and money
It is obvious to any person who has even read a little literature on ethology , as well as being engaged in creativity, that creativity is based on two instincts - playful and sexual. And if the first of them is used (or can be used) to increase social status only indirectly, or is not used at all, then the second is directly related to a set of hierarchical and territorial instincts.
And since money is the ultimate materialization of hierarchical instincts in the modern world, almost all technological, legal and market methods of solving copyright problems “from below” (from the people) considered in the network can be reformulated in one phrase -“Dear authors, immediately stop using sexual instincts for creativity, and from now on use only gaming ones!”
This is possible. But exclusively in the following situations:
a) sexual instincts are blocked at the physiological level - for example, due to overpopulation;
b) the most sexually active individuals in the population are destroyed through spontaneous or planned genocide;
c) there is a massive substitution of concepts on an instinctive, physiological level in order to break the link “sex = hierarchy” and introduce the link “sex = game”;
d) legislative and tax restrictions on the accumulation of money by private individuals.
All this set of situations could be observed in different countries throughout the entire 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.
Industrial Revolution
If we briefly delve into the history of copyright , we find that its appearance is clearly connected with the beginning of the industrial revolution, and the appearance of its modern problems is clearly connected with the end of the industrial revolution in developed countries and the beginning of discussion of the concept of “post-industrial society” .
That is, copyright and the industrial revolution are two concepts that go side by side. Although here, of course, they can object to me, recalling the old joke about the correlation between the number of pirates and global warming (which, after an in-depth analysis, may still be no joke at all).
Accordingly, the peak of problems, as everyone can see, is located on the borders of social strata in developed countries and on the actual and virtual borders between countries that have undergone the industrial revolution and countries that are at different stages. So, before the end of the industrial revolution around the world, one should not expect any progress in this regard. The “golden billion” cannot drive the rest of the world into eternal slavery!
But as soon as the industrial revolution is completed on a global scale, all the restrictions of copyright will look as ridiculous as it now looks like a bow to a man with an aristocratic title.
Oh brave new world!
So we came to a picture of the world in which current problems with copyright are either absent or strictly isolated socially and geographically (similar to the ghetto). What are its main parameters?
1. Fertility is either only for the reproduction of the population or negative.
2. Socialism and socially-oriented capitalism on the entire planet in options from “soft-Chinese” to “hard-Swedish”.
3. The approximately uniform distribution of industrial production throughout the world. Some kind of new technological revolution that allows us to solve the modern problems of this production.
If we discard the apocalyptic scenarios, then I think the majority will agree that this is the direction where humanity is moving. The only question remains - when will we come to this world?
This article is licensed under Creative Commons BY 3.0 .