I wish Prince would watch this.

http://www.ted.com/index....iew/id/187

Peace.

IwonderMe said:

Thank you for posting, IwonderMe!

Just in case he's too stubborn to click the link!

thx 4 posting.
mr lessig puts his argument over really well.

common sense revolts at the idea! we will survive!

Right on!!!

Here, here...

Even though my main concern is that eventually information will also suffer as a result of more control of the web by media giants with deep pockets, (and their bought and paid for friends in government), the speaker makes some interesting points about creativity and youth culture.

I don't know who you are but perhaps you should visit more often.

babynoz said:

I think this would be less of an issue if people got off the web (and away from the TV) occasionally. Maybe they could take up a creative hobby of some sort. Cook something (from scratch). Learn to sew. Learn to knit. Learn carpentry. Read a book. Journal. Get involved in community theatre.

It is not only the fault of "media giants." We are allowing them to spoon feed us what they believe the culture should be. Perhaps, as individuals, we should decide which part of so-called culture we want to accept or reject -- and take a more active role in creating our own culture.

It is possible to do that. (For example, I act in community theatre, cook about 90% of what I eat from scratch and can make my own clothing.) But most people now are simply too lazy to get off their fat asses and make a contribution -- even if they knew how.

What he was alluding to at the end when he flashed the "CC" cross the board was the Creative Commons project, of which Lessig is the founder:

http://creativecommons.org/

I immediately thought of Lessig and Creative Commons when all this stuff started with Web Sheriff etc. They're bound to butt heads at some point.

What this really shows is that, in this view, Prince is really not the "innovator" he pretends to be when it comes to technology and the internet. He's just quick and aggressive when it comes to staking certain claims in this new terrain. The way he views the technology, though, is highly conventional.

Great post, IWonderMe.

(There was an episode of West Wing where Lessig was portrayed by Christopher Lloyd.)

Fascinating link, thanks. The Jesus and bush/blair clip had me in stitches.

Genesia said:

You're preaching to the choir...see my post in this thread. Reply #35

http://prince.org/msg/7/252696

I'm also writing and learning to make jewelry!



As I stated, my concerns about information go beyond entertainment. For example, I was very active in the anti-war movement before the war even started and more recently the Jena6 issue. Were it not for the internet, the access to information, not to mention the ability to organize nationally and worldwide would have been much more difficult due to the lack of information and downright censorship in broadcast and print media. The FCC is trying to give even more power to big media as we speak. The trend will start with entertainment but I believe the intention is to go beyond that to effectively censor voices of dissent in other areas.

That's a dangerous trend in a so-called democracy!

Thanks. I am not sure Prince will understand even if he has watched it, I have certainly learn alot myself. Please come here more often.

JazzMeUp said:

I didn't find the Gloria Gaynor thing amusing either but what's the solution? It also annoys me when rappers overuse samples in their work, but again, I think both yourself and Genesia are generalizing a bit too much in assuming that most people that utilize the internet don't have other interests and original ideas. For example, many musicians early in their careers hone their skills playing cover tunes before audiences and even gettng paid for it before they eventually evolve enough to create and sell their own compositions.

The conclusion of Lessig's talk calls for balance in enforcement rather than complete piracy of the artistic creations of others.

There needs to be some sort of balance... I'm 100% against plagiarism... taking credit for work that isn't yours... and especially profiting from it...

I'm not so concerned about the big artists... prince, etc... I'm worried about the little guy... there are tons of cases of small-time independent artists posting their music on the internet only to be ripped off and have their music used in commercials, or sampled by big-time artists or other situations without their permission, credit or payment... That's a real copyright violation. Not these trivial matters that prince is getting so worked up over.

Those guys haven't got the funds to sue the "big" guys...

babynoz said:

I did say he had some good points. This was one of them. I just disagreed with his idea that the RW culture would die as a result of people not being able to use stuff off the Internet. I thought that was a poor excuse.

JazzMeUp said: