Re: US Congressional Budget Office on Copyright

On Thu, 2004-08-12 at 19:02, Andrew A. Adams wrote:
> I haven't read the whole of this report yet, but the introduction is much 
> more balanced than is usualy the case in stuff coming out of the US congress 
> (but then I think this is a civil servant-written report not a 
> bought-and-paid-for congressperson's bull). Worth a look, I think.
> 
> Study at
> ftp://ftp.cbo.gov/57xx/doc5738/08-09-Copyright.pdf
> 
> Coverage at
> http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5304486.html

But the report does seem to assume that DRM and its legal protection is
the natural state of things, as this quote from the article summarizes:

> Doing nothing--and letting technologies such as digital rights
> management take their course--could make the market more efficient by
> letting copyright owners charge varying prices

But the existence of the market in this form relies on the regulation of
anti-DRM technology, otherwise it would not work. Therefore, it can only
be a pseudo-market. Consider also the "market for ideas" envisaged by
patent-inflationists. Sadly pseudo-markets are still rather fashionable
among many self-proclaimed "free marketeers" --- they appear to love the
market so much that they want to artificially create it, despite the
fact that doing so often leads to *more* regulation than if they'd just
left things alone.

Alex
-- 
Alex Macfie, Taipei, Taiwan ROC              email <[email protected]>
Tel: +886 955 857477                        <http://www.cgce.net/>
STOP SOFTWARE PATENTS IN EUROPE           <http://swpat.ffii.org/>