Re: <nettime> Terror in Tune Town

[McKenzie Wark <mwark@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au>]

"'intellectual property' is really little more than the bourgeoisie's
attempt to distinguish itself from the working classes by claiming
that there's a qualitative difference between its own labors and 
that of its economic lessers. but that's not where things are headed,
historically speaking--quite the opposite."

-- this is the part i'm not sure about. marx talks about the alienation
of the worker's property -- the worker's labour. But its still property.
Is the goal to abolish the property, or its alienation? Not the same
thing.

My concern is that if you can't 'propertise' the information, then all
power resides with whoever owns the vector. The pipe -- the part that
is still physical and material property -- will be where the power lies.
The pipe guys will be king. 

This surely is the other part of the corporate bet hedging that's been
going on for 10 years now. Besides securing stocks and flows of
information, the biggies have been suring up their grasp of the vectors.
If copyright law is strong, they win because they won the content. If
copyright law is weak, they win, because they own the vector.

k

__________________________________________
"We no longer have roots, we have aerials."
http://www.mcs.mq.edu.au/~mwark
 -- McKenzie Wark 

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