Re: [tlug] OT: interesting NY times article:High-Tech Japanese, Running Out of Engineers

[Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com>]

On 2008-05-20 18:08 +0900 (Tue), Shin MICHIMUKO wrote:

> The copyright situation in Japan is a good example.

I'll listen to the argument, but I'm not actually convinced of that.

> Most of the search engine servers are still running outside Japan,
> since the server administrators are wondering if the cached contents
> are assumed to be violating the copyright of someone else.

Without question, if they cache the exact contents of the page, yes,
they are infringing copyright. The only real question is whether or not
this infringement constitutes "fair use."

The U.S. has in recent decades been a world leader (both in the sense
of going further, and dragging others along with them) in changing
copyright law, interpretation, and use of copyrighted materials to
remove the benefit to society in general and transfer it to an elite of
large copyright holders. Three examples of this would be:

    * the lack of authors' moral rights in the U.S.;
    * the extension of copyright terms; and
    * the DMCA.

Overall, I have to say that while Japanese culture, and in particular
for this discussion, business culture, is different from the U.S., I
don't find it to be particularly better or worse over all. They trade
a lot of individual "screw you, I'm getting mine" attitude for the
institutional version of the same, but that just trades off one set of
advantages and disadvantages for another, it seems to me. I may find it
somewhat more annoying due to my cultural background, but I've managed
to make my peace with it and be pretty happy in business here.

cjs
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Curt Sampson       <cjs@example.com>        +81 90 7737 2974   
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