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  3. The idea that government should regulate intellectual property through copyrights and patents is relatively recent in human hist

The idea that government should regulate intellectual property through copyrights and patents is relatively recent in human hist

admin2011-01-08  84
问题     The idea that government should regulate intellectual property through copyrights and patents is relatively recent in human history, and the precise details of what intellectual property is protected for how long vary across nations and occasionally change. There are two standard sociological justifications for patents or copyrights: they reward creators for their labor, and they encourage greater creativity. Both of these are empirical claims that can be tested scientifically and could be false in some realms.
    Consider music. Star performers existed before the 20th century, such as Franz Liszt and Niccolo Paganini, but mass media produced a celebrity system promoting a few stars whose music was not necessarily the best or most diverse. Copyright provides protection for distribution companies and for a few celebrities, thereby helping to support the industry as currently defined, but it may actually harm the majority of performers. This is comparable to Anatole France’s famous irony, "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges. " In theory, copyright covers the creations of celebrities and obscurities equally, but only major distribution companies have the resources to defend their property rights in court. In a sense, this is quite fair, because nobody wants to steal unpopular music, but by supporting the property rights of celebrities, copyright strengthens them as a class in contrast to anonymous musicians.
    Internet music file sharing has become a significant factor in the social lives of children, who download bootleg music tracks for their own use and to give as gifts to friends. If we are to believe one recent poll done
    It will not be easy to test such hypotheses, and extensive economic research has not conclusively answered the question of whether the patent system really promotes innovation. We will need many careful, sharp-focus studies of well-formed hypotheses in specific industries and sectors of life. For example, observational and interview research can uncover the factors that really promote cultural innovation among artists of various kinds and determine the actual consequences for children of Internet peer-to-peer file sharing.
The word "obscurities" in the second paragraph most probably means
选项 A、misunderstanding.
B、small potatoes.
C、well-known people.
D、uneleamess.
答案B
解析 语义题。第二段倒数第二句提到：In theory，copyright covers the creations of celebrities and obscurities equally，既然前面提到的celebrity是人，后面的obscurity此处也是指人。排除[A]和[D]。末句中解释版权理论和实际相脱离之处：保护了名人，但是却让他们成为一个阶层，与之对应的是那些无名的音乐家们。可见这里的anonymous musicians就是上句提到的obscurities，故[B]为答案。  
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