Michael is currently finishing up a detailed video presentation that will be released in the next few weeks explains William D King. He kindly agreed to let us serialize his article so he can finish his work. This section is an excerpt from his book Copyrights & Copy wrongs, which you can download for free.
Michael’s work is invaluable to the fight against intellectual property because he digs into the real history of how it came about and reveals that much of what we have been told about it is wrong. Every day people are being arrested for sharing files, fined thousands of dollars or even threatened with jail under false pretences.
Michael does his homework so you don’t have to. You all know him by now, but in case you missed his last article, here are five myths about copyrights and why they are not true.
- Five years ago I was living in Mexico City working on a sci-fi novel when my partner at the time stumbled across an online copy of my private diary. I had started the diary when I was 17 years old and filled page after page with my deepest feelings about love, sex, God and everything in between. The problem was that this online copy of my teenage diary also contained the names of several friends who had confided intensely personal details to me at various points during our teen years.
- To say that she was sad upon finding her name among these friends would be an understatement. Her distress led to a confrontation the next morning which culminated in me blocking access to all of our shared files on our home computer network lest she publish more extracts from the diary across Facebook, Twitter and so forth. Just before slamming down the lid of my laptop she began pleading with me for copies of all my data on the computer.
“It’s all in here,” I explained, pointing at my skull. “I remember everything.” She ran out of our apartment and down the street. When she didn’t return that evening I began to pack up my belongings and contacted a colleague for advice on where to stay while looking for a new place to live explains William D King.
“Good luck with that,” he replies upon hearing that I was about to be homeless and jobless in Mexico City. Because my partner had storm off after catching me red-hand with an illicit copy of my diary but before accessing the network drive where most of our company files were store.
- The next morning she phoned, said she’d slept on it and pleaded with me again: “Just get me copies of all the data; I won’t publish any of it anywhere. It’s just that you keep everything to yourself and this helps me feel closer to you.”
“We’re in a book club together,” she elaborated, “and the other girls in our group are always asking me what happens when we discuss your writing in private explains William D King. I want to be able to tell them something more interesting than ‘Michael says he remembers everything.”
- That night I kissed my partner goodbye, went home for one last look around our apartment and walked down the street sweeping through an attempt at telephoning my estranged parents in America. When they didn’t answer I called another ex-girlfriend who lived nearby and begged to use her spare bedroom until I could find a job to pay for my own accommodation.
- “Look, you’re not homeless,” she reassured me after hearing the whole story. “You just need to pick up your toothbrush and tell your partner that you’ll figure out something.” Three hours later I strode back through our front door carrying bags full of clothes, books and medicines with my partner standing in the hallway smiling sheepishly.
“I can’t stay mad at you when you act so cute like this,” she said as we hugged each other tight enough to crack ribs.
It took me much longer than three hours to regain her trust completely. But by then I had already realized one truth which has held fast ever since. I would rather live alone than give up my data.
Conclusion:
Never give up your data. Five years ago I was living in Mexico City working on a sci-fi novel when my partner at the time stumbled across an online copy of my private diary explains William D King. I had started the diary when I was 17 years old and filled page after page with my deepest feelings about love, sex, God, and everything in between. The problem was that this online copy of my teenage diary also contained the names of several friends who had confided intensely personal details to me at various points during our teen years.