Intellectual Property(aka Copywriteable) or Global Ownership (aka Public Domain)?

The subject of ownership, copyright and IP (Intellectual Property) is a very important and hotly debated subject on the internet with two distinct and very opposed camps of thought. Though one side is distinctly coming from a low vibration and the other obviously from a higher one, it would be discriminatory to reference them in this manner, so for the purposes of this article, they will be termed the RED and BLUE camps, respectively.

Go here for a definition of Intellectual Property (aka "IP")

Arguments put forward by the RED group:

* Everyone is entitled to ownership of their own ideas.

* This is the basis of the Patenting system and the very reason for the coining of the term "Intellectual Property".

* Business would be made very difficult indeed if IP rights were not able to be maintained or enforced

* People who are not in favour of IP rights are usually those that wish to profit from the stealing of other's intellectual property.

SUMMARY

It is not, in principle, correct - either morally or ethically - that everyone be given rights to use other's work for their own purposes. An artist who has spent many hours, days, weeks or possibly years creating a work is justifiably deserving of formal and RECOGNIZED ownership of the article or item in question. Plagiarization of information, illegal copying of designs, software and other products has cost industries countless billions of dollars and has been a primary source of economic woe, not to mention loss of jobs, shutdown of companies that were otherwise deserving of success and the existence of second-rate copied products that give the original concept or idea a bad name and/or reputation. The same holds true for ANY work, whether it be printed, photographed, sculpted or otherwise designed or conceived. The original creator should receive credit for his or her creation and the only way to ensure this is via the IP system/concept.

Arguments put forward by the BLUE group:

* We are, in fact, ALL ONE.

* The concept that ANYONE has a "right" to exclusive use of an idea is barbaric and symtomatic of an underdeveloped and ego-driven consciousness.

* The Patenting system is faulty in it's very foundation. Just because someone has the required funds to patent something where someone esle cannot is no proof of any REAL ownership.

* Business - specifically CORPORATIZATION - lies at the very heart of the worlds woes.

* People who are not in favour of IP rights are simply those that wish to see good work available to EVERYONE (eg Wikipedia)

SUMMMARY

It is not correct - either ethically or morally - for ANY individual to claim "ownership" of an idea. The very concept of "ownership" of ideas itself is the cause of some of the greatest evils that have ever been perpetrated on the people of this world. For instance, Marconi was "formally" accredited with the invention of radio, but it was Tesla who pre-dated him and it was only after many decades, that this fact came into general public awareness. Marconi may have been the first to patent the concept,  but this does not prove he was the true creator. The very notion that an idea should be restricted from general use by everyone is the cause of humankind's lack of progress. Something that is truly of value to everyone SHOULD be given to everyone for the purposes of improving life for all and it is only those who are driven by ego, greed and/or a need for recognition or wealth that can possibly be in favour of IP rights. ALL belongs to the people.

CASE IN POINT (for consideration):

The movie THRIVE was created and made available on it's associated website for a price, somewhat contrary to the very message it was attempting to convey. A number of YouTube users, feeling that it should be made available for all to see, made the video available on their channels, thus increasing it's exposure and fulfilling the original wish of it's creator to get the world out.

A number of very inflammatory comments were posted on the video channels by those claiming that the channel owners were being disrespectful of the owners IP rights. The responses were mainly the same: "Welcome to the Internet, where everything belongs to EVERYBODY.

Who is right ?

Go here to vote on this issue:

http://mountzion144.ning.com/page/what-is-your-opinion-on-intellect...

or Here to see the results of the poll:

http://pollwidget.org/poll_result.php?id=897