A young friend from Goa has circulated his views. If you have any comments, please free to send them to him. Thanks, FN
On Sat, 7 Dec 2002, Sanil Talaulikar wrote: > Dear ilugers, > There have been a no. of arguments put forth and back > on the issue of IP and its implications.My > understanding of these issues is very limited.This is > a humble attempt by me to improve my understanding of > these issues.What actually happened was i was trying > to study for my exams when all these thoughts occured > to me and the only way i could clear my mind of them > was to type them down. > > Feel free to comment/critisize the various points i > have raised because thats the only way i can further > improve my understanding of these complex > topics.(invitation to crucify me ;-) ) > > regards, > Sanil > > My thoughts on the IP and Software > > > > The question i feel should be asked is not whether > knowledge should be proprietory or free > but whether the possesion of that knowledge puts that > person in a position to exploit society. > > I see nothing wrong in a person making money out of > intellectual property that he has created as the > person who creates IP is creating value which did not > exist before.The idea is similar to a farmer who uses > land and freely available rain and sunlight to grow > new crops. > > The real issue here is whether the possession of IP > puts the person in a position to exploit others. > For example,An Operating System such as Windows makes > a computer usable,It is a driver for productivity in > the modern world.computer knowledge is becoming almost > a necessity and something one cannot almost do > without.Thus by selling proprietory windows(and > restricting freedoms) at a price which people of > developing countries cannot afford The gap between the > haves and havenot's further increases > > This the society should not allow to happen.The GPL is > a great way to prevent this exploitation.The great > thing about GPL(GNU Public Lisence) > is that it assures contributing members that their > contributions remain protected.People will only > contribute freely when they feel that their > contributions will not be commercially exploited.I > consider GPL an ingenious tool in the hands of the > society to prevent its exploitation(and its creator a > genius). > > But i dont subscribe to the extreme view that all > software should be GPl'ed.This is because the only way > a person can make money from GPl'ed software is by > 1)training people to use it and > 2) distributing it . > As regards to 1), according to me software should be > so easy to use that it should not require training at > all.If i want to make money out of GPL'ed software i > have to make my software > difficult to use so that i can earn from it.This again > puts the creator and contributors of Gpl'ed software > in a unique position to exploit user's by charging a > high fee. > > Ideally GNU/Linux should be so easy to use that it > empowers people so that more and more people can take > part in the digital revolution and contribute to > it(and we are getting there). > > > As regards to 2) How much money can you actually make > by distributing GPL'ed software?The problem is that it > costs nothing for a person who has obtained the > software directly through me to make one copy of it or > a million copies of it or distribute it on the > Internet. This is a crucial point on which software > differs from other products.If have bought a car or > any other tangible product i need to own the means to > produce/modify it before i can think of reproducing > it.Even then i will incurr a cost on every item i > produce. > > > The only way the software creator can earn from his > creation is by restricting certain freedoms The Open > source licensces allow this. > > According to me even creating proprietory software is > not bad as long as the creator does'nt intend to > exploit users or divide society.for example,i need not > provide the source code for software i developed for a > commercial store because the owner of commercial store > is unlikely to be interested in it as long as it > increases his productivity.In fact, the commercial > store is in > a position to exploit me if i provide provide him with > freedoms to distribute, copy and modify the software > and its source. > > One may point out,if i have bought a car i am not > forced to go to the car manufacturer for service or > modifications, i have the freedom to choose to who > services or modifies my car. > But again it is the nature of software that forces its > creator to put these restrictions.When i go to a > service station i dont provide the blueprint of the > car to him.Even if he has the blueprint he still does > not have means to reproduce it. > > Finally it all comes down to what purpose the software > is being used and the intentions of its creator. > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! 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