ACTA Protester (image source: Pierre Selim @ Flickr)
Imagine the year 2028 and an ordinary house with the son speaking to his dad.
“Dad, can I take $99 from your VISA. I need to buy a book for school”
“Which one?”
“Dostoyevski’s “Crime and punishment”
“Why should you buy it? We have it already!”
“Great, where did you upload it?”
“Uh?”
“Where is the file?”
“What file – see up there, in the library!”
“Paper copy?! Are you INSANE?!”
“So what? I’ve read it when I was your age!”
“You grow in AGE that made things without search, font adjustment, animated pictures, famous quote finder and all other neat things… my friends will laugh me to death!”
“Okay, here is a DVD copy of the book…”
“DAD! Where should I find a DVD reader !? In the museum ?! I almost expect you to give me a perforated card copy of “Crime and punishment”
“Well, go to the local tracker and download it from there … $99 is too much for a book!”
“LOL! UMAD! To download an illegal copy of a book?!”
“What do you mean illegal? Dostoyevski’s copyrights expired long ago. The author is dead from more than 100 years and the book is from 1866!”
“Dad?! Do you watch news at all!? All book copyrights are held now from American association of book publishers! You will get me in jail!”
“Dostoyevski is Russian son. What American association?!”
“Dad, are you an Antiglobalist?!”
“No, of course not! … look. It’s plain wrong to give $99 for a file with text. Why don’t you ask a friend for his copy?”
(The son sighs , rolls eyes and counts slowly to a random 3 digit number)
“Because of the Digital rights dad. He can read his copy on his tablet only. You are so behind present day technology. In short – give me $99 – I really need this book for school essay!”
“Okay, here is one-time permission password to my VISA… $99 was a lot of money in my time.”
“Thanks.”
(after short download…)
“Let me see your book now… what are those pictures? I don’t remember the original to be illustrated”
“ADs dad. The normal copy costs $699”
(The screen is filled with blinking ADs for online casinos, “Win iPhone 10 “, “The true criminals use our private networks”, “Student loans”, “Online lessons” and other stuff. Everything else but not the opening text of the book.)
“So … where is the text son? We need to first watch all ADs?”
“Dad, are you falling from the moon? You can read only with the polarized glasses I wear. Without them you only see ADs”
“!?!?!?!”
“Yes! You don’t want to pay for a book and someone reading it behind you, while you study! This is part of the Terms and Conditions. If you pay, only you can use it.”
“So If I take your glasses…?”
“Retina scan will fail. Dad … please. I need to read it before the license expires. And overtime is expensive…”
(2 hours later)
“Done!”
“You completed “Crime and punishment” in 2 hours!?”
“Sure. It could be 1 hour if there were no AD pauses on every 5 pages.”
“I can’t believe It! What happens in the end with Raskolnikov and the cop!?”
“Who!?”
“But it is in the book! Tell me then, who is the victim of Raskolnikov!?”
“How should I know dad?! This is home edition of the book. Only the opening and a summary. For the whole version of the book, your salary will be insufficient…”
(…the dad is blown to pieces)
“I don’t understand. Where is this world going?!”
“The world is already there Dad. You should have stopped it when you were still young!”