Yes!! Artificial monopolies make no sense in the 21st century. Data is infinite and the only way to lock it down is to prevent computers from copying it. That will necessarily destroy free computing as we know it.

We must let go of these archaic ideas in order to safeguard the future of computing.

At least they could reduce it to 5 years or something, and make silly patents penalizable.

So should you be able to take a free copy of a movie that people spent years and millions of dollars making?

I think a little more nuance is warranted here.

I don't need to. A 5 year old can understand that you're not entitled to take other people's work without their permission.

Yet that same 5 year-old will take thoughts, words, and ideas from their parents and their environment without asking for permission. He will attempt to draw characters he likes without permission.

Information is not property, and its sharing and reproduction is not theft.

I agree that people who work on building complicated information (movies, software, ..) should be compensated, but not at the expense of our right to share. There are many proven business models that guarantee compensation without restricting sharing, but they don't generate as much money as industry standard "passive-revenue" (rent-seeking) scheme of "licensing" and copyright.

It's incredibly sad that many people no longer understand this.

Five year olds are usually really good at cooperation (including skillsharing), and it takes many years of school to teach them that "copying is theft" and helping one another to achieve a task is "cheating".

These aren’t nuances at all. These are completely different things.

I share something with my friend and she shares it with someone else. Nothing wrong with that. If she were to share it and say she made it that’s lying/fraud. There are consequences for that.

If my friend breaks into my desk and shares photos of the contents, that’s a violent property crime. There’s consequences for that.

Pretending that these are what we are talking about is dishonest.

Sara: “Hey Johnny! Want to see my new picture? But do not show it to anyone else.”

Johnny: “Sure, show it to me... can I take it home?”

Sara: yes, you can have it. But don’t show it to others!

Johnny: “HEY EVERYONE LOOK WHAT A STUPID PICTURE SARA MADE”

Sara: No! I told you not to show it to anyone else! (Starts crying)

——-

No nuances you say?

You wrote above:

> Not all sharing is good.

Try this:

---

Sara: “Hey Johnny! Want to see my new invention? 99% of it is made up of discoveries made by my ancestors. I was on the receiving end of a lifetime of patience and privilege, as my parents (and other mentors) were able to give me a lot of attention as they are privileged (non-propertied) knowledge workers under capitalism, and therefore not as stressed out as the majority of today's working class (non knowledge workers). My luck compounded into a role as lead researcher of a publicly funded research project, where I was able to do lots of experiments and make a significant new discovery which can benefit the owners of this new trade secret/intellectual property. So yeah, check out my work, but do not show it to anyone else. And here, sign this NDA, the capitalist firm I work for asks anyone to sign it.”

Johnny: “Sure, show it to me... and yeah I'll sign that NDA. Can I take this home?”

Sara: "yes, you can. But remember to not show it to others, otherwise they will 1) see how the ability to replicate my research is impossible today because of the privatization of science by capitalists (the continued assault on our shared inheritance), 2) see all the privilege I received, and lastly, 3) to see from the negative research exactly what experiments I did, and that it was not due to my own genius after all."

Johnny: “HEY EVERYONE LOOK WHAT AN AWESOME INVENTION SARA MADE. THIS IS AMAZING AND COULD HAVE SO MANY MORE APPLICATIONS IF SHARING IT WASN'T CRIMINALIZED UNDER CAPITALISM.”

Sara: "No! I told you not to show it to anyone else! Now they can see it. (Starts crying) Now I get to sue you and be backed up by the sickly rich capitalist rentiers/monopolizers who funded me."

---

You know full well that sharing a drawing is not the same as the benefits gained from new discoveries made in science, which has the potential to benefit all humans.

HN doesn't implement hashtags.

Well then I guess people should post these hashtags to other places.

Want an econony built on imitation instead? Like China? No thanks.

> Want an econony built on imitation instead? Like China?

So just like America then? Where did you get this idea that America is squeaky clean and original?

Newsflash: it's not.

We need blockchain open access! IDEA coin incoming!

Stallman himself has repeatedly said he only devised the GPL because it's the best option in a world where copyright exists.

Yup. Licenses are for losers.

WTFPL is the only license we need! :)