Re: Comments on book?

James Rogers <jetan[_at_]ionet.net> wrote:
>
> On 9/28/98, Karsten M. Self <kmself[_at_]ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >
> > The book's largest failure is timing, in that its publication *just*
> > predates the explosion of the Internet on public conciousness.
>
> I also enjoyed the book. I believe, however, that Goldstein's
> conception of the "cosmic jukebox" refers to what he believes to be
> the next incarnation of the internet...

Yes, but a centralized vs. a decentralized model makes a tremendous difference in implications for both actual use of the medium and its copyright implications. The Web turns everyone into a publisher *and* (very cheap) bookstore. Goldstein's superdistribution-type model requires a strong central control.

I might add that I fault Goldstein for not accurately predicting monthly highs and lows of the Dow 30 Industrials through 2002 ;-) Future prediction is tricky at best. It's more dissapointment than fault I'm expressing.

> I would also like to point out the article by Charles Mann in the
> Atlantic monthly... a really good job. Extremely broad survey of
> many of the current issues in copyright law with a depth surprising
> in a popular work. Highly recommend. Apologies if it has been
> mentioned before. You can get it on-line at
>
> http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/current/copy.htm

It has, but it bears repeating. An excellent article. See also the followup discussion with Mann, Lawrence Lessig, John Perry Barlow, and Mark Stefik.

-- 
Karsten M. Self (kmself[_at_]ix.netcom.com)

    What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?
    Welchen Teil von "Gestalt" verstehen Sie nicht?

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