the future of copyright infringement

[deadrats]

i've often wondered what would be the net result as far as copyright claims were concerned if star trek style replicators actually existed. we have certainly been getting closer to making them a reality what with 3d printers and rapid modelling equipment becoming more and more commonplace.

well the floodgates are open, the genie is out of the bottle and it's only a matter of time before we see the limits of copyright laws:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/the-next-napster-copyright-questions-a...mes-of-age.ars

on a somewhat related note, i have always wondered, it's possible to do a reversible hex dump of any type of file (this functionality is even built into the linux bash shell), the only minor problem is that the resulting hex dump, being a text file that contains a character representation of the hex values that comprise a given file, is roughly 8 times larger than the original, but you can use any zip utility to compress it back down to a size equivalent to the original binary file.

i've been wondering, what if all file shares did something very simple, instead of sharing the actual file what if they shared the zipped hex dump and the down-loader recreated the file on his/her computer using the hex dump, no lawsuit for copyright infringement could take place because no one actually shared the real file; they shared a description of the file.

i'm sure content creators would try to sue but i strongly suspect they wouldn't get anywhere.

[SquirrelDip]

I don't think a zipped hex dump would have any affect - many shares are currently .rar files broken up. Any single file has very little resemblance to the original but once put back together they do.

Similarily with MP3's, DIVX etc... (and other loss formats) - if your argument stood then how would all the fighting exist over a file a fraction the size of the size of the original.

[deadmeow]

Government is just a temporary bump in the road, as all governments fall from their own corruption. If you download something you like and use, then just support the person who makes it to the best of your ability. If you can purchase or donate to the author or artist, then this is positive. If you can only support them with your kind feelings, then this is positive too.

Just think how you would feel if the shoe was on the other foot, and you were writing music or programs. How would you like people to support you and your creativity? This is something you can do to help guide yourself, if you can think about it in an honest way.