Mcleod

Mcleod offered a number of quotes that really struck me as I was reading, so let me begin with one from page 9. "However, all these topics are connected to the larger trend of privatization - something that pits economic values against the values of free speech, creativity, and shared resources." To me, this is just a really wonderful way to sum up the whole debate here. Mcleod is really saying - where do we draw the line? And I, personally, don't feel that there can be some catch-all laws that are fair. Maybe it's like pornography, where the Supreme Court judge famously said something along the lines of 'I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.' Each circumstance is different and warrants its own judgment. For now, our laws just haven't been able to keep up with our rapidly ever-changing technology.

Mcleod also said not to mistake his protests for "urging for a return to a kind of pre-industrial utopia where everything is shared ..." If you think about it, we are just murdering prospective culture here. Mcleod outlined the premise of the longstanding history of African-American music - spirituals and folk songs being passed along, deconstructed, reconstructed, and passed some more. It really created some beautiful music and some poignant history along the way. The book also brought up the idea of "The Star Spangled Banner" being "ripped off," in a way. Eventually, it led to the iconic and infamous rendition played by Jimi Hendrix. By making these acts illegal, we are cutting off the creative juices of the masses. Who knows what greatness we're missing out on because of the limits that our society has placed on us? Also later in the book, Mcleod brings up Public Enemy, who acknowledges that much of the music was a mixture of all these different artists, songs, genres - and it all played a part in helping them create their music. When all of these regulations were put into place, the music lost something.

On page 36, another great section reads, "The existence of a commons encourages creativity and innovation in both art and science ..." Yes. It absolutely does. I'm not even going to pretend that I can begin to understand all of the stuff about genomes, DNA, etc. - but it just sickened me to read the sections about it being more of a competition than anything else - scientists racing to beat each other to patent sequences, instead of racing to save lives. Has anyone seen the movie "Extraordinary Measures?" It conquers some of this material.