On Sun, 27 Jan 2002, Jim Choate wrote:
> On Sun, 27 Jan 2002, [ISO-8859-1] Mikko Särelä wrote:
>
> > If you read my message a little bit more downwards, you would have seen
> > that I am all for getting rid of IP laws.
>
> <shrug>
>
> > What I oppose is restrictions on the contracts that the business man, and
> > the author may do as well as restrictions on what kinds of contracts the
> > business man (be he same entity as author, or separate) may offer to
> > customers.
>
> Let me say this again, the contract is between the author, business, and
> society at large. It *IS* a three party system. That society at large puts
> limits on that contract is perfectly acceptable, at least in theory. The
> ultimate goal of IP law is NOT to allow the author or the business to make
> money. It *IS* to add another technological survival strategy to our ever
> growing toolbox. In order to do that we must motivate people to perform in
> (hopefully) exceptional ways. The way we do that is through the concept of
> 'wealth'.
Logical fallacy number one, there is no such thing as society at large.
There are only individuals.
Let me make this very clear; if I do something such as write a book, it is
an action that affects only me and it is done by me. What I wish to do
with that book (the knowledge is contains) is entirely up to me. I don't
want no freaking society to come for crabs, when I create something; and
they have no right to do that either.
If I decide to sell what I created to somebody, that's nobodys business,
but the buyers and mine. If I decide to make terrible conditions to the
contract - well that is also nobodys business but the buyers and mine.
I don't care what the goal of IP is - it is initiated by the government
who has no right to force me to do things on gun point.
Mikko
--
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament],
'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures,
will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend
the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage
