Copyright
"Copyright" from The Future of Ideas by Lawrence Lessig was a very interesting read.
Everything nowadays is copyrighted to insure that the creator receives credit and is not stolen from. But how far should copyright laws extend? They used to only last so long without having to get it renewed, but now it lasts seventy years without the owner having to do anything.
Everything created and protected under copyright has its own set of rules. What would apply to a book may not apply to a movie or a song. A book may be referenced and sighted and have that not be considered plagiarism, but a song that is "sampled" from it considered theft.
With more power to the original owner there are fewer chances of someone being able to build on top of previous work and create something even better. Most software companies don't allow copies of their work to be saved. If a company were to go out of business then we would lose their software and still not be able to obtain the old work. This would slow the process of building better software. The UCITA (Uniform Computer Information Act) is trying to make on-line contracting easier. However, many people working in the large industries oppose this because they don't want to be plagiarized.
I am for limiting some of the copyright laws. I think the time should be limited and the owner have to renew it if they want to keep a hold on whatever they created. I feel without forcing them to do this the original owner will have a monopoly.