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Problem of Child Pornography in Crimes Prevention & Resource Directory

 

Samuel Johnson said, No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money. The right to speak, write, paint, sculpt, etc. implies the right to own what is thus created. My right to free speech does not permit me to steal words that belong to another and treat them as my own. Thou shalt not plagiarize. Thou shalt not violate copyright. Thou shalt not sell your employers trade secrets to their competitors.Although Ive some sympathy for the notion that property is theft, I dont believe that this in any way applies to intellectual property. That which I create especially that which I create entirely within the realm of imagination and information belongs to me, unless I contractually transfer ownership to another. The right to own your own words and ideas, and to be paid for what you create, is as fundamental as the right to express yourself.At times, freedom of expression and intellectualproperty rights come into apparent conflict. A recent example was the LaMacchia case. A then 20yearold MIT junior, David LaMacchia, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud because he ran a computer bulletin board, Cynosure, and it was alleged that Cynosure users used the BBS to exchange copyrighted software. The case was thrown out of Court by the judge who stated that what had happened was not covered by existing law. Although I dont support copyright violation, I believe that charges should be brought directly against the perpetrators and that computer communication systems are common carriers and their operators should be indemnified against criminal activity by users. As LaMacchias attorney, Harvey Silverglate, said in the response to the indictment, this case raises the hotly disputed question of whether the operator of a common carrier may be held criminally responsible for the manner in which others use his communication system.As a writer, Im allowed to use words belonging to another if I do so according to fair use guidelines. For example, in this article Ive so far quoted Barry Crimmins, Catharine MacKinnon, Alan Dershowitz, William O. Douglas, Louis Brandeis, Antonin Scalia, Samuel Johnson, and Harvey Silverglate. I attributed each quote to the appropriate author. Furthermore, the quotes from Crimmins, Scalia, Douglas, Johnson, and Silverglate are in the public domain. Brief quotes, such as the ones by MacKinnon and Dershowitz, qualify as fair use. Rich and powerful people can use copyright law to harass writers even when theres no violation of the principles of fair use.

 

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