On Tue, 27 Feb 2007, Crosbie Fitch wrote: >> The problem isn't the existence of copyright--in a lot of ways, it >> *can* "promote the progress of science and the useful arts". > > The problem IS the existence of copyright.
I just want to point out here that the "If you distribute modified binaries, you must also distribute modified source code" provision of the GNU General Public License - the key tenet of "copyleft" proposed by the Free Software Foundation - would not work without copyright. As I understand things, the examples at http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pragmatic.html that the FSF is so proud of for creating more "free software" (e.g., GNU C++) would not have been possible without copyright: the people distributing binaries could not have been forced to share source, too. I am therefore unconvinced that "the problem is copyright". > This is like saying that slavery would be far more socially acceptable if > only slaves had more humane conditions and shorter terms of service. Here you ask us avoid invoking "anthropomorphological liberty"... [snip] > And remember, the word 'free' describes people's freedom to enjoy their > own culture, not to the anthropomorphological liberty of the cultural > artefacts themselves. ...and here you write comparing copyrighted works to slaves. There's more to your email, and there are parts that seem perfectly reasonable. But I need clarification on how, without copyright, you could make the gains that Free Software made by using copyright, and also how you fell into the same rhetorical trap you asked us not to. -- Asheesh. -- There are three infallible ways of pleasing an author, and the three form a rising scale of compliment: 1, to tell him you have read one of his books; 2, to tell him you have read all of his books; 3, to ask him to let you read the manuscript of his forthcoming book. No. 1 admits you to his respect; No. 2 admits you to his admiration; No. 3 carries you clear into his heart. -- Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar" _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
