Laws are often written with good intentions but enforced rigidly and with little common sense. A balance is needed between individualism and utilitarianism. At what point do my civil rights, when enforced by the state, infringe on yours? Who gets to determine which rights are worth protecting? Who draws the cost/benefit line in the sand? Not all men are created equal, but in a liberal democracy we mold society into one that provides equality in spite of our innate disparities. In my opinion, this equalization should be done by raising up those less fortunate, not by punishing those with advantages.
I think the real issue here is the fact that Berkeley was giving away the videos for free. If they were charging for those videos, they could incorporate the cost of ACA compliance into the price of the video. As it stands though, the state has the right to force work without providing any compensation. ACA compliance then becomes a form of servitude. (being a public university, UC Berkeley does get some state revenue, but it is only 14-25% of the total [1][2] and much of it comes in the form of contracts & grants which can only be used for the specific project they are awarded for). To me that is the real issue here, a simple matter of being compensated for one's work. I think they shouldn't be held to the same standards as someone selling a product, but that doesn't seem to be the lay of the land. I guess this is why we can't have nice things (for free).
I completely agree. The issue is that these are 'free' 'as is'.
The correct solution should be an exemption for public access/domain materials, which OTHERS can provide additional materials for as they desire, from being compliant.
There is a difference in contributing to the common good, and discriminating against differently-abled CUSTOMERS.
This is a great example of where a different group, such as a charity or some group benefiting from it (maybe students who produce and release to P.D. transcripts for extra credit) could continue the effort of making the content a more vibrant part of the knowledge of our species.
>Laws are often written with good intentions but enforced rigidly and with little common sense. A balance is needed between individualism and utilitarianism. At what point do my civil rights, when enforced by the state, infringe on yours? Who gets to determine which rights are worth protecting? Who draws the cost/benefit line in the sand? Not all men are created equal, but in a liberal democracy we mold society into one that provides equality in spite of our innate disparities.
Yes, as I said: The old individualism vs utilitarianism debate.
My point in highlighting that this is a centuries old debate is that:
1. There will be no clear obvious answer.
2. Hence a topic like this will usually garner a very lively discussion, with (mostly) no outcome.
I think the real issue here is the fact that Berkeley was giving away the videos for free. If they were charging for those videos, they could incorporate the cost of ACA compliance into the price of the video. As it stands though, the state has the right to force work without providing any compensation. ACA compliance then becomes a form of servitude. (being a public university, UC Berkeley does get some state revenue, but it is only 14-25% of the total [1][2] and much of it comes in the form of contracts & grants which can only be used for the specific project they are awarded for). To me that is the real issue here, a simple matter of being compensated for one's work. I think they shouldn't be held to the same standards as someone selling a product, but that doesn't seem to be the lay of the land. I guess this is why we can't have nice things (for free).
[1] http://ucop.edu/operating-budget/_files/rbudget/2016-17budge... (page 47) [2] http://cfo.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/2013-14%20UC%20B... (Page 1)