▲ | jonahx 3 days ago | |||||||
The tension arises because in some cases, at least for a while, the availability can be suppressed. Like when some expert releases an expensive ebook or video course "Secrets of X". Ofc many such books are scams, but assume for sake of argument the information is actually valuable. The initial buyers are motivated not to share it. It remains a scarce commodity for a while. But all it takes is one person to make a torrent, and the game is over. So there are two incentives -- one trying to keep it scarce, and the other trying to make it free. | ||||||||
▲ | _DeadFred_ 3 days ago | parent [-] | |||||||
Copyright was created because we realized that it takes effort to put works together (in the original case it was educational information) but that distribution can be done without rewarding that initial effort. Which then results in the initial effort not happening. Which then ends up in a dumber, less intelligent, idea poor world without those works. Society agreed to copyright because of the social benefit of having people willing to put effort/expense into creating works. We're not talking zero value internet BS, but real works. People who create the works don't make them scarce, their distribution is infinitely scalable. They just make it so that they are compensated. | ||||||||
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