Re: [OT] Droit d'auteur vs. free software?
* Steve Langasek <vorlon@netexpress.net> [030512 22:50]:
> > Natural is a quite common description for something seen as so
> > evident, that it needs no justification. So one can argue, if it
> > is a natural right, but after I saw people pretending a right to
> > own weapons this one is not funny at all.
>
> It is not evident at all to me that anyone has a *right* to a positive
> reputation;
This does not matter, as long as you do not critisize your own usage
of "natural". (And it's not about a positive reputation but about
protection against worsening it in a unfair way).
> nor is it evident to me that protecting one's work from
> alteration is the most effective way to ensure a good reputation.
> Censoring all criticism of the work is certainly far more effective, so
> why not regard "freedom from criticism" as a natural right?
It's not about criticism. It's about things like tear your artwork
on a public place and dancing a jig on it.
> > I think the direct and natural way to avoid damnifing contracts is to make
> > them void. Laws need to be enforceable to be useful.
>
> This law does so at the expense of other, valid motives -- such as Free
> Software.
I'm still waiting for explanation how it could do so. Remember that
it does not differentiate between a person giving things away for free
and a programmer fired from a large corporation.
Hochachtungsvoll,
Bernhard R. Link
--
Sendmail is like emacs: A nice operating system, but missing
an editor and a MTA.
Reply to: