In a speech today, John Fictitious, president of the Hospital Association of America, expressed his industry’s disappointment at the continuing prevalence of cancer in America. “Our industry stands ready to deploy a cure, but the doctors and drug companies have been unwilling to sit down at the bargaining table to work out a mutually agreeable cure,” he said. Spokesmen for the doctors and drug companies said they were always open to discussion, and asked for more details about the proposed cures and their side effects. But Mr. Fictitious accused them of foot-dragging: “The time for research and discussion is past. Cancer is widespread today. The simple fact is that the doctors and drug companies profit from cancer and would rather not make a deal.”
Congressional leaders expressed sympathy for the Hospital Association’s position. “We are very disturbed by the continued failure of the affected industries to reach an agreement,” said one senator. “If the industries cannot negotiate a solution to the cancer problem, we may have to step in and impose one.”
This is ridiculous, of course. Everybody knows that cancer is a scientific problem – it is an aspect of reality that cannot be negotiated out of existence and cannot be cured by government decree.
But substitute “copyright infringement” for “cancer”, “solution” for “cure”, “motion picture” for “hospital”, “Jack Valenti” for “John Fictitious”, and “software consumer electronics companies” for “doctors and drug companies”, and you get this story, which might have come from a recent newspaper:
In a speech today, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, expressed his industry’s disappointment at the continuing prevalence of copyright infringement in America. “Our industry stands ready to deploy a solution, but the software and consumer electronics companies have been unwilling to sit down at the bargaining table to work out a mutually agreeable solution,” he said. Spokesmen for the software and consumer electronics companies said they were always open to discussion, and asked for more details about the proposed solutions and their side effects. But Mr. Valenti accused them of foot-dragging: “The time for research and discussion is past. Copyright infringement is widespread today. The simple fact is that the software and consumer electronics companies profit from copyright infringement and would rather not make a deal.”
Congressional leaders expressed sympathy for the Motion Picture Association’s position. “We are very disturbed by the continued failure of the affected industries to reach an agreement,” said one senator. “If the industries cannot negotiate a solution to the copyright infringement problem, we may have to step in and impose one.”
Somehow, people who would see the fallacy clearly in the cancer story, seem to miss the same fallacy when the topic is copyright infringement. Technical problems cannot be solved by negotiation or by government decree; and trying to do so will only hold back the progress that might one day lead to a solution.
Why do so many people miss this point? That’s a topic for a later posting.
