You probably heard that Wikipedia shut down for a day recently to protest a new more restrictive copyright law. Piracy of intellectual property from countries like China is a multi-billion dollar problem, but the Internet is modern version of the Great Library of Alexandria-the source of information that spins the growth of all human knowledge. Thus, a balance needs to be struck between ownership of ideas and their ease of use.
Teachers have a saying "The best teacher is the best thief" because there is generally no copyright they won't violate in the quest for good lessons in the face of scarce resources. God bless xerox machines and the Internet. The wonderful world of lawyers has recognized this tendency to intellectual kleptomania with something called the Fair Use Doctrine for educators, but teachers as a whole still manage to be the Robin Hoods of copyright law.
At any rate, I joined the millions protesting the restrictive laws that were in front of Congress and wrote an e-mail to Representative Stephen Lynch. I immediately got a response along the lines of "thanks for writing, I love to hear from my constituents." Pretty much what I expected-my e-mail was lodged as a protest and was duly recorded. However, yesterday a thoughtful second e-mail arrived which weighed the pros and cons of the proposed house bill, stated that Rep. Lynch was opposed to the current bill, and directed my attention to the committee where the bill was sent after the protest. I feel great that the Rep shares my view-something needs to be done, but we need to protect Internet freedom too, but I would still feel great if he disagreed with me. I was impressed with the skillful use of the Internet by Congressman Lynch's staff. That thing that Al Gore and I invented just might have the potential to change the world after all, and the House of Representatives may be the place it will start. A two year election cycle means that protests by real people brought together by Twitter or Facebook have a real chance of balancing big money lobbyists.
Tomorrow, the Nook, the IPod, and the IPad.
Welcome
A curiosity shop is a place of odds and ends in a wide range of categories. One never knows what one will find on any visit, and that is the goal of this blog. Here you'll find postings on doings around Easton, the world's environment, history, recipes, fly fishing, books, music, and movies with many other things thrown in as well. Hope you enjoy it and keep coming back.
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