Monday, March 5, 2012

Constraining Laws

One of the main laws I feel constrains me, unjustly, deals with how intellectual property (IP) rights are managed. It is illegal to circumvent Digital Right Management (DRM) systems on legally purchased media, including DVDs and CDs. However, if I own the rights to a particular piece of media for personal enjoyment, not for sharing with others, why should it matter if I want to listen to a CD or store my CD collection on my personal computer to listen to any time? The only reason these laws exist is to increase the profits of monopoly holders on specific pieces of IP, such as an individual song or movie, by forcing consumers to purchase multiple versions of the same content. This system unfairly constrains my right to enjoy my legally owned content for personal satisfaction without reasonable demonstration of harm to IP owners.
This is in direct contrast with laws that prevent me from illegally obtaining content to which I have no right, or distributing content I own to others for use that doesn't benefit me. IP owners should receive fair compensation for their work just like any other individual in the US. It is a legitimate constraint to prevent individuals from producing copies of music or other IP and distributing them to others. If individuals who create these works are no longer rewarded for their production, it will decrease the overall creative output of society and potentially hamper the future development of the art and entertainment sectors.
Tthese two constraints can be balanced in order to better protect the rights of the end-user/listener/reader while also protecting the rights of the creator.

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