Re: Selling Artistic License Software (WAS: Re: non-DFSG section and CD distributers)
On 23 Nov 1997, Darren/Torin/Who Ever... wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
> (Yeah, I know, this is late. It's been a bad week.)
> Dale Scheetz, in an immanent manifestation of deity, wrote:
> >My only reply to your question is, "Why shouldn't I? If I can't, then
> >there exists a specific distribution restriction. This distribution
> >restriction does not exist in other licenses that we consider Free."
>
> Because there are the other options available to you. What you are
> selling is your service, not my software.
>
While this is a distinction that you and I can agree we perceive, the
customer who has just given me his money in exchange for the CD I hand him
doesn't see any difference. I don't see any reason to make any "legal"
distinction between them if the customer can't tell the difference.
The reason I even trouble to argue this point is that the problem with the
artistic position is that, when it says this is something you may not
sell, it devalues the "inherent" value of the software. The beauty of the
"Free Software Model", for me, is that it creates "Real Wealth" without
capital investment. This wealth has the advantage of being available to
anyone who cares to use it.
If I sell you an ear of corn, it doesn't matter whether I grew the corn or
not, it does matter that I "own" the corn and thereby have the right to
sell it to you. The fact that I hold the ear of corn is considered
"defacto" ownership. This is not true for software.
If I sell you a software (distribution or single program) my right to do
so is usually defined by the license, while the owner is defined by the
copyright. That is, it is the copyright holder who has the power over the
license, and is therefore always considered the owner no matter what the
license says.
\begin{SamelessPlug} % format by Joost ;-)
When you buy a copy of my book, I certainly consider that you "own" that
copy, and I don't feel my copyrights are threatened by that ownership.
Should I hold a "slightly" different position with respect to the "freely
distributable" html version of the book? I certainly feel like each person
downloading their "own" copy, so they can read it, has an undeniable
aspect of ownership, without taking anything away from my copyright.
\end{ShamelessPlug}
For me this is an issue of (admittedly very small) restriction on
distribution. For me it is very simple. Distribution is the movement of
the software from one place to another. (In this case from me to a
customer/client) The money that flows in the opposite direction from that
of the distribution (from client to me) is considered payment. Any
restriction on payment is a distribution restriction.
I understand, and agree our customers should understand, that the amount I
should be "reasonably" able to ask for the transaction, is the value I
bring to the interaction by "knowing" what to give you. I also know that
the expected path to "making money" with free software is at the
installation and customization side of things, but for those services to
be seen as having the value that they should (from the customers point of
view) the original comodity must be seen to have intrinsic value as well,
or there is no standard by which the customer can judge your value. You
eliminate a mechanism for assigning value to the software when you
restrict its sale. When you allow the sale, you do not relinquish your
ownership rights as defined in the copyright.
We probably encourage this confusion when we distribute license
agreements, sometimes mingled with copyright information, and label them
as copyrights. The are, in fact, use and distribution licenses.
Dwarf
--
_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-
aka Dale Scheetz Phone: 1 (904) 656-9769
Flexible Software 11000 McCrackin Road
e-mail: dwarf@polaris.net Tallahassee, FL 32308
_-_-_-_-_-_- If you don't see what you want, just ask _-_-_-_-_-_-_-
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