RIP

the host of RIP is very handsome, very boy-next-door. at first i found him a little pedantic, but i was surprised when he brought the copyright law discussion to bear on cancer and aids research. it is a very intelligent move and i'm sure one advanced before by other people.

at the same time i was annoyed to be lead by the hand through an argument by someone so square. i was also annoyed that he introduced me to "girl talk's girl". doesn't she have a name? and anyway, why should i give a damn whether he has a girl friend? is that to make him seem more human? is that just in case i think he's hot and wonder if he's gay?

i have since recommended that documentary to several people, with the qualification that it can be at times pedantic but that overall it relates a lot of interesting ideas.

i recently attended a lecture by michael hardt on his new book *commonwealth*. he talked a lot about immaterial products (things like information and art) and advanced the argument that current copyright laws are relics of the industrial air when products were material, when ownership was by necessity private on account of the physically limited dimensions of the product. now that products are immaterial, can exist simulatneously in many places at once, copyright law should be revamped. he argues that the outdated copyright laws are actually detrimental to the capitalist, since they impede progress.