against the wal
I have read Lawrence Lessig’s The Future of Ideas and have listened to a few podcasts or other slideshows that he has done in the past. But, I eventually lost touch with his progress. This mainly occurred because I simply didn’t understand how many of his arguments applied or the number of tangible examples I could fathom were few and far between. Copyright law is so blown out of proportion and the reigns of the internet are in such disarray and our legislature so terribly riddled with corporate forces that any solution would be subject to endless belligerence until the momentum of the movement was sapped.
Well, Lessig has changed his tune. No, he’s not now tooting the praise of the RIAA, but instead is focusing his efforts on one of the problems, in fact the one problem that has a solution.
Lessig is now focusing his attention on political corruption, not any such bribery present but, as he puts it, “the economy of influence that governs Congress”. At first that phrase seems straightforward, but realize he used the verb “governs” with “Congress” as its subject. As its serf.
TED posted Lessig’s 2007 talk on their website and also has it available for download just below the Flash version. Lessig is one of the few people who gives better presentations than Steve Jobs but wouldn’t get credit for it because Jobs has a few higher marks on looks. This particularly presentation, “How creativity is being strangled by the law”, is phenominal.
I now understand his initial argument for why our future is gradually being destroyed. And destroyed by forces who care nothing for quality or even quantity but rather care all about quarterly profits. YouTube is probably the best example of an outlet for kids growing up today - and I’m not talking about me, because I am terrible with iMovie or any other video-editing stuff - who are getting used to the idea of living against the law, when that impression is a horrible precedent to be setting. Bravo, Lessig. And everyone else should watch that video.
November 9th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
As a fan of Lessig too, I don’t think it’s fair to say that there aren’t solutions to the problems he presents. He outlines multiple fair solutions to the intellectual property law problem in Free Culture.
I applaud his academic pursuit against corruption. He’s not changing his tune as much as he is going after the larger cultural problem. His alpha presentation on corruption is quite exciting.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
i really don’t think solutions are possible given how great economic forces are. paramount, sony, universal, whoever - these are vast corporations with teams of lawyers ready to spin on a moment’s notice. if anything, our legislature has the opportunity to change things. and we’re not talking about sending new politicians to the slaughter, but voicing opinions to our incumbents so they know that their incumbency is numbered unless they respond to their constituents. our current politicians aren’t that bad, but have had years of economic corruption, as Lessig calls it, behind them. it’s far easier to change a single mind than the non-existent conscience of a corporation.
i’m going to watch that other preso tomorrow, thanks for the link.
November 11th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
IP rights don’t exist naturally — they’re granted by government and Congress has been more interested in protecting corporations than citizens. I think that’s completely fair. Corporations give lots of money to congressmen and always tell congress what they feel. Only half of eligible Americans vote, a third have written their congressmen, and even less have made political contributions. Until America wakes up, we’ll continue to get screwed.