Piracy and legal consumption of media are really two sides of the same coin under capitalism: The value of a piece of so-called “intellectual property” comes from the labor that went into it, which is Not Just the labor that went into creating the original copy, but also the labor that went into creating all subsequent copies — crucially including “illegal” copies! — as well as all fan content and all other derived works including all commentary. Copyright itself is just the use of everypony’s favorite Monopoly on Legitimate Violence to create the artificial scarcity that is a prerequisite of value, both through actually shutting down so-called “copyright infringement” and by controlling the Discourse to present piracy as a bad or dangerous thing. This means that Walmart DVDs are kinda like the O’Hare Air of media: We could’ve had a breathable atmosphere, but we’re stuck with this crap instead.
So this is why I support total copyright abolition and hear no excuses for the institution.
Piracy and legal consumption of media are really two sides of the same coin under capitalism: The value of a piece of so-called “intellectual property” comes from the labor that went into it, which is Not Just the labor that went into creating the original copy, but also the labor that went into creating all subsequent copies — crucially including “illegal” copies! — as well as all fan content and all other derived works including all commentary. Copyright itself is just the use of everypony’s favorite Monopoly on Legitimate Violence to create the artificial scarcity that is a prerequisite of value, both through actually shutting down so-called “copyright infringement” and by controlling the Discourse to present piracy as a bad or dangerous thing. This means that Walmart DVDs are kinda like the O’Hare Air of media: We could’ve had a breathable atmosphere, but we’re stuck with this crap instead.
So this is why I support total copyright abolition and hear no excuses for the institution.