Isn’t this almost the inverse argument to the android vs iPhone thing? Like the iPhone being (traditionally) more expensive for the “same technology from 5 years ago”? I don’t really have a horse in this race, I’m a firm believer in use what you like and is easiest/best for you. But I do feel compelled to call this one out a bit.
Bugatti is a French manufacturer owned by VW since way before 2005.
It has nothing to do with the Italian manufacturer (apart from the name), which discontinued production in 1963.
If there is no IP then why would you bother creating or inventing?
On the other hand, Disney extended the timeline of copyrights beyond reason.
Edit: I understand not everyone needs monetary rewards to create something, however I think there are a lot of things that without the monetary reward would not exist.
Do you like video games? Everyone here seems to think we can just copy the files without any harm to anyone. But if all games were free, what sort of games would be created? If game companies stood to make no money, why would they bother with such a large production? Why would Nintendo bother being Nintendo?
It's not that video games wouldn't exist without the IP, it's that without the monetary reward there wouldn't be such a drive over such an extended period of time. But maybe we only need indie games and no one here has ever enjoyed AAA games. That's fair, if true.
If there is no IP then why would you bother creating or inventing?
Why did the No Mario’s Sky creator bother creating or inventing? People created and invented far before the advent of IP. IP generally serves the purpose of consolidating Monopoly Capitalism, aka Imperialism.
For clarity, I am for abolition of all Private Property to begin with. I’m a Communist.
I’m a digital communist, at any rate. If something can be copied for free, it darn well ought to be free. Anything else is artificial and enforced by threat of violence.
Good question! The answer can be found by looking at how most of the commercial open source products are monetized. Software hosting and technical support are quite lucrative if the software is valuable.
But let’s look bigger than just software. How do content creators get paid? That’s far less tested. I expect crowdfunding to be the primary vehicle for that. It’s popular for indies, but the big boys haven’t caught up with the times yet.
The answer can be found by looking at how most of the commercial open source products are monetized. Software hosting and technical support are quite lucrative if the software is valuable.
This only applies to some software, though, no? Like, let’s say a group of folks make a game or something, and release it as FOSS. Assuming they’re not hobbyists, and this is their career, how are they covering costs and making a living on that?
How do content creators get paid?
Largely through sponsorships, I think, right? Sponsorships and crowdfunding, but both of those require some measure of notoriety. It’s an unfortunate case where you have to spend a lot of effort doing it effectively unpaid until you get a following large enough to bring in sponsorship money or ad revenue or donations. Or you need to be a pretty woman who’s willing to monetize that, that seems to have a much lower barrier to entry.
I interpret the headline as workers losing faith in the “bootstraps” illusion, hard work isn’t rewarded, Capital Ownership and accumulation is. Wages are largely tied to subsistence + reproduction levels, which is why real wages haven’t kept up with productivity.
As for this being the “natural state of things,” yes and no. It’s one link in a long chain of development, after Capitalism will come Socialism, just as Capitalism was born from Feudalism, and eventually Communism will be born out of Socialism. It’s natural only insofar as it plays a role in historical development, it isn’t a default state nor an end state.
Our system is “capitalism”, not “workerism”. The owners of capital solely decide how the fruits of productivity are split, and wouldn’t you know it they decided that it should all go to themselves.
But at least you are entitled to the sweat of your brow. Until your boss finds a way to extract that, too.
The world is full of creatives who make things without any expectation of income, but people create anyways. Look at open source software, or the many youtubers who don’t get enough views to get paid yet they post anyways. There’s quite a few journalists who operate solely on optional donations.
If game companies stood to make no money, why would they bother with such a large production?
I’m a games industry professional. I would continue to do this work as an unpaid job if my basic needs were met on a societal level.
You think you’re asking a neutral question, but you’re not. Companies operating within capitalism will behave in the interests of capitalists. IP laws aren’t required for the AAA studios other than to domineer control over an idea. A game like Call of Duty is a titan made by 1000s of professionals. One of those games gets launched every year. By shear force of momentum, there are very few companies that could ever replicate it in any fashion.
Now imagine if COD was made by a company in which IP didn’t exist, all the profits went to the workers rather than shareholders, and that the workers have a say in the launch schedule. Would you be willing to pay for a game in that instance?
What's stopping you from doing this now? Seems like it would be naturally the place that industry professionals would flock to and would see dramatic success.
Because I don’t have the capital, and jumping into forming a large worker cooperative is incredibly risky. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to, but I’ve found my niche and it’s organizing unions within the tech industry.
There should be a spot between “everybody can use and claim any idea as their own and make money off of it” and “corporations with virtually limitless resources control all IP and no matter how small or innocuous a use of that IP is, they are the arbiters of copyright, trademarks, etc”. How is this controversial?
It’s also apt, in it’s own weird way. There’s absolutely a difference between pre-9/11 and post-9/11 America. One could consider it a rebirth of sorts.
My ~230$ android phone has 120hz screen and very similar features. However, I had to turn the refresh rate back to 60 cuz it was chewing through battery. (5kma)
memes
Oldest
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.