D&C GLug - Home Page

[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]

Re: [LUG] What is the purpose of free software ?

 

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/

Attachment: pgpf5HU6mXi7f.pgp
Description: PGP signature

-- 
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html