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Friday, April 26, 2002 |
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Macaulay on Copyright. The easiest form of parochialism to fall into is to assume that we are smarter than the past generations, that our thinking is necessarily more sophisticated. This may be true in science and technology, but not necessarily so in wisdom. Today I would like to share with you a speech made in 1841 by Thomas Babbington Macaulay, a brilliant philosopher, critic and historian who was himself a great enemy of historical parochialism. The speech is on the topic of copyright, and the theories set forth became the basis of copyright policies in the English speaking world for well over a hundred years. These theories now popularly superceded by theories of natural rights to intellectual property. Be forewarned: this speech is long, and far more intellectually challenging than most modern political speech. But the mind behind it is lively and incisive, and you may be surprised by how little the fundamental issues have changed, and how some of the disingenuous arguments put forth today echo those of the far past. Judge for yourself whether the politicians to day are wiser than those of a hundred and sixty years ago. [kuro5hin.org] |
An excellent lecture. One particular observation:
Greg and I have started batting some ideas back and forth about the interaction between k-logs and organizational dynamics. I fear my comments will be construed as overly cynical about organizations and power, which isn't my intent. O'Neil's comments about trust capture some of what I was trying to articulate. Technology and organization seem bent on recapitulating C.P. Snow's two cultures argument. Both technology and organizations are marvelous inventions for extending our power and reach and enabling us to accomplish much more than we ever could as individuals. While they ought to work in concert, they are more often in conflict. That conflict will get worse as we apply technology to problems like communications and collaboration that have long been the province of organizations. Experts on both sides of the divide have generally been willfully naive and ignorant about the other. Communincations is more than the accurate transmission and reception of bits. And technology is more than just a pipe connecting two human beings. Design choices and design constraints in technology can profoundly alter the nature and quality of the human discourse they carry. The design process needs to be mindful of both the discourse to be carried and the technology. |
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