Intellectual Property

Some people debate over whether the government should instate more regulations when it comes to the Internet. I would say that it is a bad idea. For starters, we all know we need a government in place to maintain civility in our society yet we always complain that the government is not good enough or run by idiots. It seems us Americans are hard to please. At the same time we complain, however, we always demand more out of the government and require it to be done without raising taxes at all. Is this possible? No. We all know that as well. So when we talk about implementing regulations on the web, we are asking for more government agencies and contractors. This would mean a slightly higher tax. In my opinion the tax increase would not bother some, and would probably not be noticed by most, realistically; but when we give the government to regulate something that is not tangible, I think we are going to be disappointed.

Think of the internet in terms of a boulevard. You can walk down it at your leisure and go where you please. You can look up information and research at the local library, go to class, you may want to go buy some new shoes or even order a pizza for dinner. No one is stopping you. Your only regulation is the common laws we live by every day: you cannot steal anything nor can you harass anyone. This is common practice and if we chose to disobey the law, we risk punishment. Everyone knows that. This boulevard may even have a store for adults only, these stores exist and I can think of eight within walking distance from my own home (and I live in a nice part of town). The internet has these same stores, marked for adults only, and just like in the real world it is the parent’s job to keep their kids out of them.

When it comes to intellectual property, we have seen huge law suits over illegal downloads and such. I feel the same way toward illegal downloads as I do toward stealing a CD or DVD from Wal-Mart. It’s wrong.