The things being done in the name of enforcing copyright and other monopolies are specifically stifling "The progress of Science and useful Arts".
This is the problem with copyright and patent law at all. We're not actually helping the creators, we're giving some of them (those who jump through certain hoops, and meet arbitrary requirements) a letter of marque with which to enforce the law on their own and presumably make enough justify the process. While intended to let a little guy claim his own these invariably wreak havoc in the wrong hands.
If we did what RMS suggested years ago we could be straight-up paying creators of popular works based on self-reported usage. And it would totally rid us of the need for DRM, and thus the need to legally support DRM, etc, by being based on a copying is encouraged because it helps the people model.
Of course we'd need administration to track the creator of certain things, like lolcats and other casual works, and pay them, and arbitrate ownership disputes when two people claim a work, etc, but that's just a fraction of the bureaucracy we already have in place.
The entire system of monopoly grants, and the bureaucrats (janitors, clerks, judges, and lawyers), the lawmakers, and the companies who exploit the cracks, can all just dry up and blow away if we decide to truly promote progress.
This is the problem with copyright and patent law at all. We're not actually helping the creators, we're giving some of them (those who jump through certain hoops, and meet arbitrary requirements) a letter of marque with which to enforce the law on their own and presumably make enough justify the process. While intended to let a little guy claim his own these invariably wreak havoc in the wrong hands.
If we did what RMS suggested years ago we could be straight-up paying creators of popular works based on self-reported usage. And it would totally rid us of the need for DRM, and thus the need to legally support DRM, etc, by being based on a copying is encouraged because it helps the people model.
Of course we'd need administration to track the creator of certain things, like lolcats and other casual works, and pay them, and arbitrate ownership disputes when two people claim a work, etc, but that's just a fraction of the bureaucracy we already have in place.
The entire system of monopoly grants, and the bureaucrats (janitors, clerks, judges, and lawyers), the lawmakers, and the companies who exploit the cracks, can all just dry up and blow away if we decide to truly promote progress.