Nine Shift

More on Music as Intellectual Property

We've got no answers, but one thing is clear: no one else does either.

We're talking about music as intellectual property in the 21st century, and the Supreme Court's recent futile gesture to apply last-century standards to this century's reality.

But here's a new twist: the kids aren't necessarily selling their music.
Most of the music our local kids listen to aren't even available on CDs or for purchase. Our son recently bought one of only 100 CDs produced by a band he likes.  So there are hundreds of thousands of songs being shared, with little or no intention of making money.

This point was refreshingly visited in a June 29 article in the NY Times by Jon Parales with the great headline, "The Supreme Court Has Ruled, So Enter the Geeks." (we would link to the article, but it is...uh...intellectual property according to the Times)

"On the Internet, people share everything from chocolate chip cookie recipes to the details of last night's date. Motives for sharing music are more complex than a grab for free goods," he writes.

"It's a completely alien mentality for profit-focussed companies that still dream of being paid every time someone hears a song."

Meanwhile, it's fun watching the kids work with creating new standards for intellectual property.

What are your thoughts on intellectual property?

Love the whole world

On his 75th birthday, the City of New York asked its famous native son William Dean Howells for a statement to be read out loud at every public school in the city.

"What could they have been expecting?" asks a New Yorker writer in the June 13 &20 issue.
Howells said simply (notes the New Yorker writer), with the memory of the Spanish-American War and the lies that led to it,

"While I would wish you to love America most because it is your home, I would have you love the whole world and think of all the people in it as your countrymen....

"When our country is wrong she is worse than other countries when they are wrong, for she has more light than other countries, and we somehow ought to make her feel that we are sorry and ashamed for her." 

Nine old people try to stop the Internet

The Supreme Court has spoken. And nothing will change.

On June 25 the Supreme Court ruled that the file sharing software Grokster engaged in illegal behavior.  The central point, according to the justices, was that Grokster folks "intended" the software to be used by its customers for illegal (sharing music, movies and so on) activities.

We would make two points.
1. Intent.  Stealing is illegal only if you "intend" to steal?  Jaywalking becomes illegal only if you "intended" to cross the street in the middle of the block?  We were raised that ignorance of the law is no excuse- - but apparently intent is a good excuse.
2. File sharing will rage on.
   In the June 20 edition of the NY Times (available now only for a fee so we're not linking to it), Tom Zeller, Jr. interviews several online experts about their predictions for the Supreme Court decision, and then concludes,
  "None of this, of course, will matter to avid downloaders in the end. Peer-to-peer file sharing will rage on, via endless permutations of open source, anonymous, non-profit-seeking software - - even in a Groksterless world."

What are your thoughts on the Supreme Court decision and the issue of intellectual property?
Make a comment and tell us now!

NineShift Media Alert: we're on radio

Friends, we (Julie Coates and Wm. Draves) will be interviewed along with BBC's Peter Day on Jean Feraca's "Here on Earth" program at 3 pm (Central Time) on this coming Saturday, July 9.  The program, produced by Wisconsin Public Radio, is also heard in the  Netherlands and  other stations. And you can hear it online at the Here On Earth web site.

Your thoughts on the office of the future

Your turn to talk:  what do YOU think offices will look like in the future?

Recently, we interviewed Jack Tanis of Steelcase who indicates there is more collaborative (team) work space in offices now.  Nine Shift has talked about increasing numbers of people working from home.

What do YOU think?  Just click on comments and tell us your thoughts. Your turn: : :

Why I'm a "sewer Socialist"

If you think privatizing social security is bad, how about privatizing the sewers.

My ancestral homeland is Milwaukee, Wisc., where the mayors were socialists for about 60 years. The last socialist mayor, Frank Seidler, gave me a ride home once (nice man). So I thought the term "sewer socialist" meant someone more interested in city parks and city infrastructure than radical politics. 

Apparently, "sewer socialist" means just that.  About 100 years ago, waste disposal was privatized. Every home had to figure it out for itself. No city sewage system.  But a lot of disease and polluted rivers. Then the socialists came along and proposed city sewage systems, which of course we all enjoy and take for granted today.

Thus, the article recently in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that cities are being financially starved to the point where they are borrowing millions to fund basic city services.

"Rushing to beat any property tax limits imposed by the state, local governments across Wisconsin have voted to authorize more than $335 million in potential future borrowing for capital improvements and economic development," writes Lisa Sink in the Journal Sentinel (June 25, 2005, front page)

Taken together, local, state and federal deficits are now creating what some call the "birth tax," meaning every child today is born with a $150,000 debt. 

  At some point time, and we hope soon, the American public will force its leaders to fully fund all levels of government, understanding that only public funding can provide the health and welfare all citizens need. Til we begin in investing in the 21st century, Americans will continue to shoot themselves in the public foot, and keep falling behind Europe.

Collaboration everywhere

While we're doing a series of posts on Russia....

Collaborative learning and other 21st century values and behavior is just as evident in Russian kids as it is in American kids.

Here's a picture I took of Russian girls in the computer lab.  There are 2-3 girls per computer, just like in the U.S.  The kids learn together, preparing to work collaboratively.   PLUS they will be working collaboratively online, and some of their colleagues will be American (translation: your kid will be working online with Russians).