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Pennies streaming from heaven

Is the internet really so different from the phonograph?

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Readers' comments




"This year will be the first in which the average American will spend more time with digital media each day (around five hours) than watching television (4½ hours)"

did you just say that in average an american wastes 9½h of is wake time? good luck.


The difference is that when the phonograph was invented the laws adjusted to protect creator's rights to be compensated during the reproduction and distribution process. The the internet age, the opposite has happened. Powerful search engines and telecom companies have manipulated the courts and blocked legislative efforts to update the laws to protect intellectual property on the Internet. For example, Cisco has had a patent since 2004 on a technology to confirm that a user has the rights to be forwarded to a hyperlink in their browser - yet search engines claim that it is not technologically possible - or it will "break the internet" to protect IP.

hedgie in reply to EthicalFan

Interesting. Teach China with a far higher and growing traffic and internet users to use this Cisco patent or other adaptations to climb the internet tech. You cannot impose self destructive US legislation in a another country that can begin to exploit this "tech" for the domestic market provided there is advancement for the global pop and profits from development. Tell us more on this patent and how to source it.


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