OPINION

A Serious Challenge to Orthodoxy

Written by Eric Olsen
Published February 20, 2003

A pair of economists argue there is no need for copyright at all: Have we gone too far in protecting intellectual property?

In a paper that has gained wide attention (and caught serious flak) for challenging the conventional wisdom, economists Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine answer the final question with a resounding yes. Copyrights, patents, and similar government-granted rights serve only to reinforce monopoly control, with its attendant damages of inefficiently high prices, low quantities, and stifled future innovation, they write in Perfectly Competitive Innovation, a report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. More to the point, they argue, economic theory shows that perfectly competitive markets are entirely capable of rewarding (and thereby stimulating) innovation, making copyrights and patents superfluous and wasteful.

...Economists prize economic growth but distrust monopoly, so accepting the latter to obtain the former is a Faustian bargain at best. With Perfectly Competitive Innovation, Boldrin and Levine vigorously reject the contract.

Innovation, they argue, has occurred in the past without substantial protection of intellectual property. "Historically, people have been inventing and writing books and music when copyright did not exist," notes Boldrin. "Mozart wrote a lot of very beautiful things without any copyright protection." (The publishers of music and books, on the other hand, sometimes did have copyrights in the materials they bought from their creators.)

...In arguing for competitive innovation rather than the monopolistic variety, Boldrin and Levine emphasize that they are not saying creators don't have rights. On the contrary, they stress that innovators should be given "a well defined right of first sale." (Or, more technically, "we assume full appropriability of privately produced commodities.") And creators should be paid the full market value of their invention, the first unit of the new product. That value is "the net discounted value of the future stream of consumption services" generated by that first unit, which is an economist's way of saying it's worth the current value of everything it's going to earn in the future.

So if Britney Spears records a new song, she should be able to sell the initial recording for the sum total of whatever music distributors think her fans will pay for copies of the music during the next century or so. Distributors know her songs are in demand, and she knows she can command a high price. As in any other market, the buyer and seller negotiate a deal.

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A Serious Challenge to Orthodoxy
Published: February 20, 2003
Type: Opinion
Section: Politics
Filed Under: Music: News
Writer: Eric Olsen
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#1 — April 10, 2008 @ 19:50PM — geral sosbee [URL]

I hope that this board will permit this minor, but important intrusion:
-----------------------------------
The living dead (LD)... * A Frightful Lot

The modern day living dead are those individuals (including their silent, behind- the- scene supporters) who seek out others for torture, imprisonment and death.

We the living recognize the dire circumstances confronting the heartily alive among us who are in numbers increasingly unarmed and at the same time unsuspecting of the the atrocities inherent in the current stealthy onslaught. Blind trust in government often lures the innocent into the ranks of the LD, and they are all soon obsessed with and mesmerized by one and the same pragmatic, godless and collective goal: the conquest of Mankind by a singularly hideous and destructive creed.

Many of us among the living have come to view the reality of the LD phenomena as antithetical to human dignity and contrary to the laws of divine nature, because we recognize that the LD is characterized in his vile machinations by a macabre, immoral and murderous disposition from which no quick escape is apparent; ironically the LD shares a common fate with his new recruits: no way out of the labyrinth of hell created by the decadent and disturbed mind.

Finally, those remaining alive and strolling (on the surface placidly) amidst the turmoil created by the LD sometimes find comfort in the company of their own kind, as they welcome the inevitable return to grace offered by the heavens to the ever living and pure at heart who manage to avoid conscription into the ranks of the LD.

*"Men die of fright and live of confidence" (Henry D. Thoreau) Thus, in a sense, fright is at once the plague of the LD and the disease it seeks to spread.

#2 — April 10, 2008 @ 19:58PM — Christopher Rose [URL]

Say what?

#3 — April 10, 2008 @ 20:03PM — Clavos

Jeez, this guy waited five years to post that???

#4 — April 10, 2008 @ 20:37PM — Jordan Richardson [URL]

I'd hit it.

#5 — April 10, 2008 @ 21:15PM — duane

That's all well and good, Mr./Ms. Sosbee. But I do NOT have blind trust in government, and STILL I am obsessed with and mesmerized by my godless goal: the conquest of Mankind. How do you explain that?

#6 — April 10, 2008 @ 22:48PM — Bennett

Ha!

duane...

#7 — April 11, 2008 @ 09:49AM — geral sosbee [URL]

such incredible insight boys and girls; tell us your true names so we may credit you for something other than your fear of being identified.

#8 — April 11, 2008 @ 10:47AM — Christopher Rose [URL]

Mostly we all know each other, Geral, it's you that's the stranger and making fancy accusations...

#9 — April 11, 2008 @ 11:03AM — geral sosbee [URL]

"fancy accusations" seems to be your present purpose, Chris. I simply posted and received a number of silly comments like the one you, Sir, just posted.

#10 — April 11, 2008 @ 12:16PM — Christopher Rose [URL]

I'm not exactly sure how a simple statement of fact is a silly comment but there you go.

#11 — April 11, 2008 @ 12:37PM — Clavos

I just looked at Mr. Sosbee's links.

He is (he claims) a former FBI agent who is being persecuted for reasons too obscurely hidden in his website for me to discover before I lost interest in remaining there.

It's a creepy, paranoid site. His ramblings and ravings read very much like those of every other conspiracy-obsessed individual who's ever posted on these threads.

Only the details (what few are offered) change.

#12 — April 11, 2008 @ 14:43PM — geral sosbee [URL]

The admin here is an unethical and cowardly punk for his removing my posts and permitting personal verbal assaults on me by his favorite low minded posters.

#13 — April 11, 2008 @ 14:50PM — Jordan Richardson [URL]

I'd still hit it.

#14 — April 11, 2008 @ 15:02PM — geral sosbee [URL]

repetitive gibberish; enlighten the reader as to the meaning of the profoundly evocative, yet meaningless
"Id hit it."!and
"I'd still hit it."
I believe you indeed hit it, little one.

#15 — April 11, 2008 @ 15:33PM — Jordan Richardson [URL]

I think it's par for the course.

#16 — April 11, 2008 @ 16:33PM — Christopher Rose [URL]

Geral, is your unfounded rage getting the better of you? I'm the admin here and none of your comments have been removed.

#17 — April 11, 2008 @ 16:34PM — geral sosbee [URL]

"The Fog of War"...
is the same fog in the mind of a silly frightful boy Jordan Richardson.

#18 — April 11, 2008 @ 16:40PM — Christopher Rose [URL]

Geral, you can either participate in this online conversation as it is or move along to another site. What you can't do is complain about the insults you perceive and then make attacks yourself.

#19 — April 11, 2008 @ 16:44PM — Jordan Richardson [URL]

Frightful?

Geral, a quick search of your name turns up an awful lot of strange and bizarre accusations. Perhaps the reason nobody is taking you seriously is because you come across as a bit less than credible. Your post was also dreadfully obscure, strange, and filled to the brim with nonsensical rhetoric that nobody but you and "Barbara Hartwell" seem to understand.

There is no question about it that government, FBI, CIA, and host of other organizations need to be held accountable for various actions. But your accusations are unclear, muddled, and strange. Instead of presenting a cohesive case, you've decided to bounce from website to website to spread your own brand of conspiracy theory. It seems you're probably not doing your "cause" a lot of favours by resorting to wild accusations of comment deletion and paranoiac ramblings. Believe or not, the FBI has nothing to do with Blogcritics.

In short: what the hell are you talking about?

#20 — April 11, 2008 @ 17:01PM — Jordan Richardson [URL]

A few things I find particularly amusing about Geral Sosbee:

1. He thinks that the fact that he didn't get a teaching job in China is the fault of the FBI/CIA and not the fault of a lack of qualifications or for a disinterest on behalf of the University of Hong Kong to hire someone characterized as "batshit crazy" to teach their students.

2. The largest portions of his website are tempered with "in my humble opinion or other such "disclaimers," this enabling him to get away with sweeping generalizations. It is his opinion that the FBI/CIA/military industrial complex is planning to "annihilate" certain cities in the United States. It is his opinion that the FBI/CIA/military industrial complex actually knows what those cities are and that human beings will be targeted for termination.

3. He believes that female FBI agents file "false sworn affidavits" accusing the "usually male" target of misconduct. He also believes that there is a "secret law" that allows the FBI to place impotence-causing drugs into the food of the "usually male target." This causes the "usually male target" to not be able to engage in intimate relationships. Also, food doesn't taste the same.

4. He points to "evidence" on other pages of his extensive "story" on his "website." When you click on the "evidence," you are given a disclaimer again that states "as always, the above is the opinion of Geral Sosbee." This permeates throughout the site and the evidence is shown, by and large, through the manifestations of the rantings and ravings of a wild man.

In short, what I learned from Part 1 of Geral Sosbee's "story" on his "website" is the following:

A. When I am turned down for a teaching job at a Chinese university (in Hong Kong), I can blame the FBI for it instead of my own lack of credentials and/or sanity.

B. When a female FBI agent turns down my advances and/or my hand up her skirt, I can blame the FBI "false sworn affidavit" program for it.

C. When my wife complains of a lack of intimacy due to impotence, I can now safely blame the Feds. I can also use this same excuse to point out how her meatloaf "sucks."

D. I can say I have "evidence" to back up just about any claim I make. My "evidence" can be my opinion.

E. I'd hit it, Geral. I'd hit it good.

#21 — April 11, 2008 @ 17:08PM — El Bicho [URL]

geral, keep fighting the good fight. The masses usually fear and attack that which they don't or can't understand. History is filled with stories of men like Jesus Christ and Galileo who were persecuted for the truths they offered that mankind wasn't ready to accept. You stand in good company.

#22 — April 12, 2008 @ 00:06AM — Al Barger [URL]

Geral, Jesus Christ, Galileo, Obama and El Bicho - the controversial beacons of enlightenment. Stay strong, Geral!

#23 — April 12, 2008 @ 00:15AM — El Bicho [URL]

Brother Al, if it's enlightenment you seek, just wait for my upcoming Willie Nelson boxset review

#24 — April 12, 2008 @ 03:33AM — STM

"my upcoming Willie Nelson boxset review"

Something to look forward to ...

#25 — April 12, 2008 @ 04:22AM — STM

Shouldn't this have been posted to the Conspiracy theories thread??

And how come American conspiracy theorists call people things like "Sir" and "Bucko" when they they don't much like them??

Geez America's a hard place to understand.

#26 — August 5, 2008 @ 20:36PM — geral sosbee

'amusing' as written by Jordan Richardson (JR)reflects his disdain for the truth of my reports,even as he fraudulently summarizes same; JR would be the eager witness to a public execution or quartering, as he delights in attacking those concerning whom he has no capacity to comprehend.This is not my opinion; yet the above statement is FACT.

#27 — August 5, 2008 @ 20:40PM — geral sosbee

Christopher Rose writes:
"Geral, is your unfounded rage getting the better of you? I'm the admin here ..."
Such comments reflect a dark mind and an insensitive heart, as my reports focus on the ongoing covert torture program by the fbi and the cia against Targets.FACT.

#28 — August 5, 2008 @ 21:10PM — Christopher Rose [URL]

Yes. Of course. That's it. I've got a dark mind and an insensitive heart. It all makes sense now.

#29 — August 5, 2008 @ 22:56PM — Ruvy

Geral,

Whatever points you wish to make on torture and imprisonment, the appropriate way to do so is to write an article on the issue.

That way, instead of being condemned as an outsider and a stranger, you would be welcomed as a new voice at Blogcritics with something important to say.

It's not that hard to become a writer here. Chris Rose, or Eric Olsen could give you information on what to do, and you'd be on your way.

I, for one, am more interested in the issue of copyright protection and the views that Eric Olsen brings us in his too rare articles here.

Gentlemen, can we continue onwards without further interruption, and allow Geral the opportunity to raise the issues of the living dead in his own separate article here?

#30 — August 6, 2008 @ 00:00AM — El Bicho [URL]

geral, so glad to see your return here as you keep fighting the good fight. Your responses are a shaft of gold that illuminates the darkness.

I would not fret about your detractors. JR has been known to fraudulently summarize pop albums as well, which many Danity Kane fans will attest to, and there are some who question if CR even has a heart, so it's no surprise that he comes off as insensitive.

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