Thursday, September 10, 2009

Who should contribute to the copyrights debate?

The UK government have decided, persuaded by the unelected industry secretary Peter Mandelson, that it would be a good idea to make criminals of people who infringe copyright, thus clearly taking sides against the general public in what should be a purely civil matter.

It's OK, though. They did engage in consultations first, or so it is reported.

But who did they consult? The public? No. The creative individuals who made the works? No. ... they seem to have consulted only with lawyers and the "recording industry".

The public have voted largely with their feet, and here is a report on the position of creative individuals in The Register:

Pop stars tell labels to FOAD • The Register

Perhaps time for MPs to listen to the people who voted for them rather than non-voting corporate entities ... and then perhaps the government might even listen to the MPs?

Hope springs eternal.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

What should be taught

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity, and I agree.

The link is to a light-hearted but right-on-target talk he gave for TED.