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Election 2006 (and beyond): Digital Copyright Canada
From: russell_-at-_flora.ottawa.on.ca
Date: 3 Feb 1999 15:57:52 -0500
References: <199902031816.NAA13644@striker.ottawa.on.ca>
On Wed, 3 Feb 1999, Alan DeKok wrote: > http://linuxtoday.com/stories/2780.html > > I pretty much agree with this article. *sigh* I found it to be a typical hard-read as the language is contradictory. He used the term 'commercial software' a number of times as a substitution for what he meant which was 'proprietary software'. Outside of the proprietary-software world, the word 'Commercial' is well understood to refer to 'For-Profit'. As has been proven time and time again, you can make money in software without removing people's freedoms, which was part of the purpose of CopyLeft. One can make an "Honest buck" and still not restrict some forms of Freedom of Expression. As mentioned earlier, I don't consider the use of Copyright or Patents to be an "Honest buck" but a dishonest one. This was an author who freely admitted that he wanted to freeload from Free Software, being convinced it was to his benefit to use the better Linux environment, but not being willing to move his own Industrial Control Systems software to Free Software. In other words: He believed in information ownership, and thus isn't going to truly understand the arguments that RMS was making. Again, RMS may have been jumping the gun in reminding people that Open Source is just a "halfway house" (My phrase), but he was dead on with what he was suggesting in that there are times that the LGPL does nothing but aid freeloaders and doesn't help the longer-term goal of moving *AWAY FROM* Copyright. > This is GPL bigotry at its worst. If the individual really feels > that way, then he should stop buying ALL commercial products, and live > in perfect freedom: naked and starving in the woods. Typical anti-Freedom beliefs based on a misunderstanding of the word 'commercial' (when you meant to say 'proprietary') and a misunderstanding of exactly what the tradeoff is that Copyright and Patents are enforcing (Loss of freedom of expression of many for the 'reported' financial gain of a few). One *CAN* stop purchasing all proprietary software, and Copyright/Patents still restrict ones ability to work. The exchange of ideas is often restricted by file formats using patented storage or retrieval algorithms. The Freedoms to share even ideas one came up with themselves can be (and are) challenged by copyright/Patents. It was so much easier speaking to the people in India. They understand Intellectual Freedom much better than people here. There are people who have been using medical and food-producing knowledge passed down for thousands of years that are now being threatened by Bio-Piracy and other Intellectual Property based attacks on basic human rights. See you at the OCLUG meeting tonight *grins* --- Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://russell.flora.org/work/> Thoughts about India, Business including Netshooter project Happy Republic Day, India/Linux! http://russell.flora.org/india/
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