In many ways, it amazes me that there’s still any debate about Digital Rights Management, and the litigation and technology required to stem the flow of copyright infringement. Regardless of your take on the morality of the issue, I feel that pursuing such goals is an utter waste of resources—there’s no way for the copyright holders to win at this, so why play?
If what we do can be reproduced digitally, we should be embracing that as a huge advantage, and encouraging the spread of our digital produce. If we don’t have anything else to offer, then perhaps we don’t get paid. And perhaps that’s fine.
You can’t digitally reproduce:
- The smell of a new book
- The feeling of turning a page
- The ability to turn everything off and read something
- Live music
- Theatre
- Letterpress prints
- A comfy chair
- Holding an object in your hands
- Having a face-to-face conversation
- Cold beer
- Trust
- Friendship
- Belonging
- Community
- A room full of real people
For all intents and purposes, this list could be infinite, yet we seem to be obsessed with protecting the things that can be reproduced and passed from person to person. We’re actively trying to prevent this from happening. Please, lets stop flogging this horse (its dead), and go and make something else—something better—instead.
