Archive for January, 2005
Creative Commons: A desert amidst the oases
Kim Weatherall of Weatherall’s Law points to the launching of the Creative Commons License in Australia.
Go to the Creative Commons website and check out the jurisdiction-specific licences that they have crafted. Among the countries listed are China, Taiwan and Japan. Where is Singapore?
For all the talk about ‘intellectual property’ and enforcement of rights, this is where Singapore should really be investing time and energy in. ‘Intellectual property’ is not the same as physical property. Ideas and expressions are non-excludable and non-rivalrous. Meaning to say, that a person using another person’s idea (note that I’m say USE, not TAKE CREDIT FOR) can benefit from that idea without depriving anyone else of using that idea, or selling that idea.
More importantly, innovation and creativity are achieved through collaboration and building upon the ideas of others. Extending and expanding copyright laws make no economic sense: such actions are inherently protectionist and increases the barriers to trade.
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For an example I have uploaded two songs to my radio blog. The first song, ‘My Life’ by Colin Mutchler, was submitted by the musician into an open sound archive under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
The second song, ‘My Life Changed’, is ‘My Life’ plus a violin track. The thing is, Cora Beth, the violinist, had never met Colin before. Neither did they plan this collaboration.
Now, the latest incarnation is ‘My Life Changed Completely’(mpg/wmv), a music video with vocals and lyrics added on. Anyone else apart from me see where creativity comes from?
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The internet acts like an idea exchange, allocating resources efficiently. Extending and expanding copyright laws is tantamount to increasing taxes, setting a price floor and distorting the market. The internet allows for unprecedented collaboration on a global scale. For people who truly believe in the free market and free trade, this is the direction of the future.
A Singapore specific CC license cannot be done without some institution (such as a university) or organisation (NGO) being involved. If I had the legal expertise, I would have volunteered myself a long time ago. Too bad no lawyer in Singapore seems interested in such a project. If anyone with expertise in Singapore IP laws wish to take this up, here’s a little primer on how the Creative Commons works.
PS: Kim actually lectures at University of Melbourne Law School, teaching Internet Law and Trademark Law. I taking her Internet Law class in Semester 2.
Australian IT - Commons simplifies net rights (Jennifer Foreshew, JANUARY 18, 2005) via Weatherall’s Law
Creative Commons - An Opsound Exchange
Casino Debate: Freedom, Values or a Secret Sin?
So Mr Tan Soo Khoon speaks up in Parliament about how the government is inconsistent when it says it is up to Singaporeans ‘to act responsibly, to exercise common sense and to make their own choices as to how they wish to spend their disposable income’, and yet ‘are not allowed to withdraw their entire CPF savings when they reach age 55′.
I am in complete agreement with him about the cognitive dissonance often displayed by the government’s actions and words. But I guess this happens sometimes when you have a state that wants political and economic control, a diversified and resilient economy, and a responsive, enterprising citizenry. Pick any two and you stay sane. Try to fulfill all those conditions and you end up contorting like a bad case of rickets.
I also agree with Mr Tan’s suggestion at resolving such dissonance:
There are many other issues Singaporeans could do with more freedom of choice, said Mr Tan, since ‘we are now prepared to say that people should be responsible to make their own choices as to how to spend their money at the gambling tables’.
Yes, it’s about time someone in Parliament speaks up about freedom of choice, that much neglected bastard child of our retarded democracy. The way the PAP goes on about freedom, makes you think its like those scary in-laws you wish you had never met.
After that however, Mr Tan goes into ‘morality mode‘ and mentions the obligatory conservative remark:
He also insisted, in disagreeing with Dr Balakrishnan, that the debate is still about ‘money versus values’.
David from Singapore Ink agrees,
The most important point for me in Mr Tan?s speech was that it remained a ?money versus values? debate. He said that Singapore has gotten to where she is due to sheer hardwork and doggedness - by not taking shortcuts in becoming a sleeze city. Singapore is unique in that children can grow up here with the right values and the right environment. That really struck a chord with me as I have always believed that we hold the World on trust for our kids. Hence, we have a responsibility to make sure that they have the right environment to live, play and work. The decisions we make today is the reality they face tomorrow.
while the Singapore Commentator is doubtful:
But Mr Tan also said something that suggests where the problem lies. He said that the casino debate is about ?money versus values?.
Most people go into a debate with their own set of values. They then proceed to debate around those values. The values themselves ? although they form the bases of their stands ? remain inviolate and unexamined. When a debate is among like-minded people with similar values, a consensus can often be quickly achieved this way.
However, when the values held by the debaters differ markedly … the chance of a consensus becomes remote.
Unless, as appears to be the case in the casino debate, those values themselves are thrown open for debate. Unfortunately, when people?s much-cherished values are thrown into the pot to be debated, especially together with other base considerations like money, you can be sure that some people are going to be rather unhappy.
Argh! PHP madness!
Sorry to friends and fellow bloggers who read my blog, I apologise for the downtime. I stupidly overestimated my own abilities at computer programming and fscked up the PHP scripting… 
A thousand apologies!
