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Comment by breck | Hacker News Reader

I'd extend this to say, if we don't abolish (c)opywrong, we're screwed.

Does anyone want to go back to the closed source software development model of the 1990's? Then why do we not push for the open source model not only in software, but across news, academia, music, film, databases, et cetera? How many of your hard earned tax dollars go to pay for Microsoft's and Oracle's technical debt? How much of your tax dollars go pay for Elsevier's and Random House's and Wiley's closed source databases of publications? Why do we allow this inferior model of treating ideas to exist, when we now have solid data that the open way is far superior "for the progress of arts and sciences?".

Write your representatives. Organize your communities. It's time to pass a new Amendment to the Constitution:

    Section 1. Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of this Constitution is hereby repealed.
    Section 2. Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people to publish ideas.

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> I'd extend this to say, if we don't abolish (c)opywrong, we're screwed.

Then consider us "screwed," because what you propose has a snowball's chance in hell of actually happening.

Also, too many software engineers overreact to some reformable problems with the IP system with burn-it-all down radicalism. I think your proposals would cause more harm than good. They'd likely stop most media creation that you're used to*, and what's left with either be cheap (think fanfiction) or under tighter lockdown than any DRM you've ever seen.

* Tell me, who's going to invest 10-200 million dollars to make a movies or TV shows on a regular basis, without copyright?

> * Tell me, who's going to invest 10-200 million dollars to make a movies or TV shows on a regular basis, without copyright?

We can have a world where:

- Every child has access to humanity's best information

- We cure cancer

- 90% of American's media is controlled by 6,000, not 6, corporations

- College tuition costs drop dramatically

- Lower taxes

- More income equality

- No more opioid pandemics

- Making the world resilient against AI domination

Or a world where:

- We make sure that we don't risk disrupting new Game of Thrones spinoffs

I know what I choose.

>> * Tell me, who's going to invest 10-200 million dollars to make a movies or TV shows on a regular basis, without copyright?

> We can have a world where:

> - Every child has access to humanity's best information

> - We cure cancer

> - 90% of American's media is controlled by 6,000, not 6, corporations

> - College tuition costs drop dramatically

> - Lower taxes

> - More income equality

> - No more opioid pandemics

> - Making the world resilient against AI domination

LOL. The thing preventing us from curing cancer is copyright?

Sir, you have created an entertaining satire of software engineers. I congratulate you on your achievement. Good job!

> LOL. The thing preventing us from curing cancer is copyright?

Outright preventing might be slight hyperbole, but it's definitely not helping, no.

See the scientific publishing model, which charges scientists twice for their articles (once to publish, once to view). Open Science and Scihub are two approaches to fixing this issue.

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