"...the German publishing giant Axel Springer...is suing Eyeo, makers of Adblock Plus, on the grounds that changing HTML to block an ad creates a 'derivative work' of Axel Springer's web-pages:
[...]
"'IP' ('a law that lets me control how you use your own property') is a tempting solution to every problem, but ultimately, IP ends up magnifying the power of the already powerful..."
https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/29/faithful-user-agents/#hard-cases-make-bad-copyright-law
I've known for a while that Doctorow is critical of IP, and as a musician, I wondered about that position.
Now, seeing the ways that the tech industry is using IP law to control how people use media and software that we have paid for on our own computers really makes me start to rethink my stance on IP. I don't know what the answer is for artists, but it certainly can't be something that lets tech companies control users like this.
@reillypascal Keep in mind that he's also a writer, and he released most of his books as free downloads.
I have many, many, many issues with him and his views, but I'll give him that, he puts his money where his mouth is.
@miki oh I'm aware. I certainly don't want to get rid of all legal protection for artists' ownership of their work
My main takeaway is that what we have now is very much not working, and while I'm not sure what to do about that, if there's a problem it's good to know about it