The Congress shall have Power [. . .] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts...

[lumberjack_jeff]

...by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

In 1790 copyrights were exclusively limited to "Maps, charts and books" and the term was 14 years renewable for another 14 years if the author was still alive.

Thanks to the DMCA and the 1998 Mickey Mouse act, published AND unpublished works are copyrighted for 120 years (no need to renew), and violating it is a criminal act. In 2105, it will still be a crime for our great grandchildren to copy Microsoft DOS 3.3.

I think 28 years is enough. In fact, in our fast paced information society, I think it should be 14 years without renewal.

Patents, trademarks and copyright laws are excessive, to the great detriment of the economy and society.

[Drale]

1. Your great grandchildren

will have no idea what windows Dos 3.3 is. lol Hell they will probably have never even seen a command prompt.

[msongs]

2. if you don't like copyrighted works, don't use them. Create your own stuff! nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. Do you think that the Iliad should be copyrighted?

Should Homer's descendants be the only ones authorized to distribute the Odyssey? In fact, should the word "Odyssey" be a trademark?

[Pholus]

4. While you can. Remember that MS's strategy to kill Linux was going to use patent litigation.

And before long, perhaps you won't own the rights to the stuff you make.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. Or even the stuff you grow.

If your corn gets cross pollinated with Monsanto GM crops, you're a criminal, just like music downloaders.