[LAU] Changed: Copyright laws and such

[Simon Wise]

On 15/02/13 14:58, Louigi Verona wrote:

I very much agree with your last couple of posts, except perhaps ...

> Also, I have little regard for the sentiment that if I give something away
> for free, others have to do the same. It is their business what to do with
> it and it is not my call to decide how others live their life, unless they
> are invading my property.
> I can of course suggest this to them, but I cannot dictate it to them.

You alluded to this earlier in the post by mentioning GPL and CC as efforts to 
undo (or at least ameliorate some of the problems of) copyright laws ... for me 
while current copyright laws remain enforceable I prefer to release stuff as GPL 
so that I DO insist that redistributing that work involves an obligation to keep 
it AND any improvements or adaptations to it, available to others.

Certainly I would prefer it if the copyright laws that permit some party to 
adapt work which has been distributed freely and then claim some kind of 
ownership of it to deny others access to it were thrown out. In this possible 
and better world I would no longer feel the need to claim my dubious but 
currently enforceable ownership in order to attach conditions to help keep the 
work accessible to all. While the existing and deeply flawed legal situation 
continues I do claim ownership and do make those restrictions, even while 
arguing for changes to the law that would make those licenses, and others, 
irrelevant.


Simon