* * * * *
Information wants to be availale …
> The reasons are clear enough: in an attention economy, the key is to
> capture customers and keep them focused. The dojinshi market does exactly
> that. Fans obsess; obsessions work to the benefit of the original artist.
> Thus, were the law to ban dojinshi, lawyers may sleep better, but the
> market for comics generally would be hurt. Manga publishers in Japan
> recognize this. They understand how “theft” can benefit the “victim,” even
> if lawyers are trained to make the thought inconceivable.
>
Via dive into mark [1], “What lawyers can learn from comic books [2]”
I've linked to [3] a few other [4] articles where making intellectual
property (books, music, comics) easily available helps sales in the long run,
even if it may facilitate an apparent “pirate market” in the short run. And
this article by Lawrence Lessig [5] expresses that point all the more so (and
while he is correct in his reference to the potential legal action [6] by
Sony [7] against someone who hacked the Aibo [8], I can see Sony's side of
the picture—they were trying to limit their liability if someone saw the
information, hacked their Aibo and broke it, then tried to return it to Sony
possibly despite langauge in their warantee that modifications to the Aibo
will void it; Sonly has since changed their mind [9]).
[1]
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/01/14.html#in_brief_14_jan_2003
[2]
http://www.redherring.com/insider/2003/01/copycats011003.html
[3]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2003/01/03.1
[4]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2002/04/21.1
[5]
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/lessig/
[6]
http://www.infosatellite.com/news/2001/11/a051101aibo_hacker.html
[7]
http://www.sony.com/
[8]
http://www.aibo.com/
[9]
http://www.infosatellite.com/news/2002/05/a080502aibo.html
Email author at
[email protected]
