As I said, I respect your opinion.
FYI, the IEEE requires me to assign anything that I publish in their
journals (for me, a lot) to them or I don't get published in their journals.
Tom Piwowar wrote:
I am reluctant to enter into this discussion, since I am conflicted...
Were I 40 years younger, I would completely agree with Tom Piwowar...
But over the years I have seen many changes...
rson whose interests spans both engineering and artistic
I see copyright and patent law from more than one perspective...
(As an example: many large engineering firms require all employees to
assign in advance all copyright or patent rights to their employer from
anywhere to ten years to life...
In face of this one-sided perversion of copyright and patent law, about
which the individual can't do much, what is to be done?
I no longer believe that all law regarding copyright and patents should be
obeyed...
Start by googling on "The Banality of Evil." Then tell me how your
approach to ethics will stop you from getting there.
If "many large engineering firms require all employees to assign in
advance all copyright" then the proper thing for the engineer to do is
tell their employer "no" and find a different firm to work for. If
engineers just go along and sign anything they are enabling banal evil.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) has put a lot
of effort into this and urges its members not to sign such agreements. In
the long term it is not a good idea to work for a firm that is unethical
and evil. For example, engineers who work for unethical firms often find
themselves fired one day before they qualify for a pension.
In a similar vein, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)
publishes a handbook on professional practices that discusses things you
do not sign. When Bill Gates bought the photo stock company, Corbis, he
caused an uproar among professional photographers with draconian contract
terms. I personally was in such a situation with the Computer Guys Show.
WAMU presented me with a contract I saw as unethical, trying to squelch
an investigation similar to the recent news story about the Smithsonian's
top management. That's why I'm no longer doing that show.
I don't think there is such a thing as being "just a little bit evil." Is
someone who murders two people twice as evil as someone who murders just
one? Is it not evil for a manger to approve using a toxic chemical in
toothpaste or for a worker to add the chemical? How about the guy with
the XDR TB who ignored the CDC's admonition not to travel? Following your
"sophisticated" logic I think we are all in trouble. Evil is banal.
Returning to the specifics of the EULA: There are several versions of the
product selling at different prices. The different versions have
different capabilities. You want the capabilities of the more expensive
version, but don't want to pay more. So you buy the less expensive
version and enable some of the capabilities you did not pay for. Is this
wrong, you bet it is. Is there a consequence, you bet there is.
To argue that it is okay to break the EULA because the vendor is a
convicted predatory monopolist has no ethical standing. Did enough people
raise a stink when the court-ordered penalities against the convicted
predatory monopolist were set aside. No, you accepted banal evil. You
made your bed, now you have to sleep in it.
I never buy photo stock from Corbis. I avoid software from convicted
predatory monopolists as much as I can. If we all avoided software from
convicted predatory monopolists it would only take a few years for things
to get better. With competition and alternatives you would probably not
be facing an EULA that you find so objectionable. Yes you have a problem.
You should work to solve that problem. But you should do it by ethical
means. That will solve the real problem.
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