[TAG] The Public Domain: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

[mso@oz.net]

Jimmy O'Regan wrote:
> "There is no doubt that piracy is an important problem?it's just not
> the only problem. Our leaders have lost this sense of balance. They
> have been seduced by a vision of culture that measures beauty in
> ticket sales.

It's more than piracy.  Our whole economic indicators are screwed up.  Why
is economic health measured in how much people spend rather than how much
they save?  Another thing, pointed out in my favorite book _Natural
Capitalism_ (http://www.natcap.org/, entire text online), is that
environmental impact is ignored because doesn't appear on corporate
balance sheets or tax forms, so the cost is treated as zero even though
it's enormous.  Trees are cut down because they're in the way, but is the
$2 million benefit of a shopping center really more than the long-term
benefit of oxygen, ecosystem nutrition, wood production, and carbon
sequestering, none of which we can produce by artificial means?  Same for
polluting rivers, etc.

Another thing is measuring everything in terms of "sales".  Many things
are sold which might be better leased.  (Again from _Natural Capitalism_.)
 Instead of buying a heater, why not buy a "heating service" where the
manufacturer provides you with warmth somehow (which probably means
installing a heater in your home) and takes responsibility for maintaining
it?  Or a printer with a guaranteed upgrade every year?  Then the
manufacturer would have an incentive to make it long-lasting and with
recyclable parts, to cut down their expenses.  If you buy an appliance and
it falls apart or was a bad technological choice, it's your problem and
the manufacturer can ignore it (and sell you a new one).  But if you lease
an appliance and it falls apart, it's their problem.  I don't quite buy
this leasing argument completely coz I don't see how to prevent price
gouging; i.e., I've seen cars and computers leased for more than they
would cost to buy, but I assume the right company could come up with an
attractive lease.

A major part of the book talks about eliminating waste, which makes sense
if you view it as nonperforming assets.  He gives examples of companies
and individuals cutting down waste by 50% in a year by redesigning their
products/lifestyles, and it's a win-win situation.  E.g., a change in
manufacturing process eliminates production of a toxic byproduct; this
reduces expenses.  The new process creates another byproduct that can be
fashioned into another product and sold, so profits go up.  Things like
that.  Much is possible if you base your business plan on minimizing
waste, which is really lost profits.  On a personal level, adding energy
efficiency to a house drives up the cost but only to a point.  When you
get to the point that you can eliminate a heater or air conditioner,
suddenly expenses go way down.  The purchase price is only 10% or less of
the TCO of an appliance; 90% is the energy cost to run it over the years. 
Likewise, if you get a $100 raise or cut your expenses by $100, the net
result is the same, but the latter is easier and under your control,
whereas the former requires the cooperation of others.

> The danger remains invisible to most, hidden by the zeal of a war on
> piracy. And that is how the public domain may die a quiet death,
> extinguished by self-righteous extremism, long before many even
> recognize it is gone."

As many have pointed out, the public just doesn't see the public domain as
valuable.  I don't think this is as much about the piracy wars as the fact
that the proponents of "intellectual property" have really managed to
convince the public that it's the same as physical property.  A lot of it
may just be because of the word "property".

-- 
-- Mike Orr <mso at oz.net>