[wordup] Piracy Hits a New Low

[Adam Shand]

From: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/001194
More: http://www.free-culture.cc/

Piracy Hits a New Low

In the latest example of blatant intellectual property abuse, 
self-proclaimed “hacker” Aaron Swartz has uploaded the entirety of the 
bestselling book Free Culture to the Internet and encouraged everyone 
to modify, respond, and annotate it using the technology known as a 
“Wiki”.

The book, which retails for $30, was the product of years of research 
by author Lawrence Lessig, who expected to retire and purchase a large 
mansion with the royalties he received from its sales. But industry 
experts say that dreams has been all but destroyed by Mr. Swartz.

“Why would anyone buy a book to tear apart when they can defile it 
online for free?” said former RIAA head Hillary Rosen. “It goes against 
all of our American values to let an author’s creation be destroyed by 
that.” Rosen cut our interview short, saying she had to go record a 
cover of Come Together.

Technology expert Clay Shirky said he believed this was the first time 
the full text of a book had been placed in a wiki like this. “The 
pirates have really hit a new low. I can’t think of anything worse. 
Except maybe micropayments. I predict that in 3-6 months book sales 
will be all but a relic, I will be penniless, and I will die. The 
country will mourn the loss of a great thought leader” Shirky added 
before we cut him off.

Lessig himself was unavailable for comment at press time (although 
quiet sobs were heard coming from his office). But his spokeswoman, 
Shelley Powers, denounced the wiki, the book, Creative Commons, 
TypeKey, and the USA PATRIOT Act in the strongest possible terms.

For his part, Aaron claims the site is entirely legal, noting that 
Lessig released the text of the book under a so-called Creative Commons 
license. But legal expert Darl McBride said that the Creative Commons 
license was a sham, and if not a sham then a copyright infringement, 
and if not a copyright infringement then unconstitutional, and if not 
unconstitutional then very, very, dangerous.

The wiki, where you can join in on the destruction, is available at 
http://blogspace.com/freeculture/.