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On Mon, 29 Jan 2007 08:46:44 +0000 "Jonathan Roberts" <jonathan.roberts.uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > You continue to confuse "constricted by" and "under." I give up. > > > I guess what Ben was trying to say is he dislikes copyright licenses, > perhaps he doesn't dislike "copyleft" licenses - i.e. the GPL. "copyleft" isn't a legal term, the GPL requires copyright law to operate. I know what Ben was trying to say, that software should not be under punititive restrictions that are commonly implemented by proprietary software and are enforced under copyright law. The problem is that copyright law is not the problem here, it is the solution. The problem is the LICENCE (or EULA), implemented under copyright law. Retain the constraints of copyright law - dump the restrictions of proprietary and non-free licences. Blaming copyright law for problems with a EULA is blaming the messenger. Blame the licence. On a separate note, when you see those "infomercials" (or lie boxes as I call them) at the start of movies etc., that claim that copyright violation is a crime, just bear in mind: Copyright is a civil law, violation results in a civil offence, NOT criminal. Violations only become criminal if done for pecuniary gain. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap12.html#1204 (That's the US version.) http://www.patent.gov.uk/copy/c-manage/c-useenforce/c-useenforce-enforce/c-useenforce-enforce-commercial.htm (UK version) Theft is a criminal offence under property law that requires the removal of a physical object without permission. Removing a physical object deprives the owner of that object. Copying a copyrighted work does not deprive the owner of anything. Nothing has been stolen, there is no theft and there is no piracy. No criminal offence has been committed by copying the copyrighted material - only by selling the illegal copy. The copyright holder is free to implement whatever restrictions they like over a copyrighted work but a breach of those restrictions is only ever a civil offence, unless done for the express purpose of financial reward. Stealing a DVD/CD is not equivalent to copying the copyrighted material because no physical object is removed in the copy operation. The supposed "losses" are based on the false assumption that the person receiving the copy would have purchased the material through channels approved by the copyright holder if the illegal copy was not available - in most cases, this is simply not true. Breaking copyright law is still illegal, but it cannot be deemed criminal if the copy is given away without charge (or the copy is made by the person who legitimately purchased the original work and also retains the copy - i.e. backups and format conversions). Certain lobbies in California and elsewhere would love to see this distinction dropped - it is as important to fight this insidious threat as it is to fight software patents. The threat underlies the ideas around oxymorons like 'Intellectual Property' and 'Digital Rights Management' and finds expression now in Vista via the "premium content" debacle and ideas that certain content can only be viewed via "approved" devices/programs or only viewed X times. It's all nonsense - dangerous nonsense. Free software exists to promote freedom through sharing. Sharing must not be criminalised. The freedom to choose your preferred viewer must not be criminalised. That's why I will continue to correct misunderstandings around copyright law - it isn't pedantry, it matters because those who seek to destroy free software do so by exploiting misunderstandings and deliberate FUD around copyright and licences. To defend free software, we must understand the law as is, the mechanism of the threats and the purpose of what we try to defend. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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