Swedish Politicians Who Actually Understand The Issues Surrounding File Sharing
Date : 01 11 2008 Category : Business
Techdirt
It's pretty common for polticians to have an extremely superficial understanding of the real issues involved with copyright these days. For that reason, many are susceptible to the entertainment industry's misleading and inaccurate talking points about how it's about "theft" rather than obsolete business models and artificial scarcity vs. infinite goods. In the few cases where we see politicians getting beyond that, it's usually still not about recognizing the business model issue, but continuing the myth that this is about finding a "balance" between consumers and content creators. However, for what may be the first time, it appears some politicians in Sweden really do seem to understand the issues. In response to an effort to implement more stringent copyright laws, some Swedish politicians are coming out against the proposal, while noting that it really is a business model issue. Karl Sigfrid, a Swedish MP, notes:
"The cause for file sharing is basically that it's possible. People have always done it to the extent that they've been able to. With cassette tapes 20 years ago and electronically today. Copyright laws preventing individuals from sharing information have never been legitimate in the eyes of most people.... The change needed might be so radical that it's no longer about selling copies of immaterial products at all."
A politician understanding the deeper issues and talking sense? Didn't see that coming.
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