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GNU GPL law and "lagom" copyright

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the debate-the-issues dept.

Johannes writes "Newsforge column on "lagom" copyright. I think we need to discuss these issues more. Maybe a GNU GPL law isn't so bad after all. As Pawlo states: "Would not a modern democratic society benefit from a plurality of irreconcilable and incompatible doctrines? We need the GNU GPL, but we also need proprietary software, Open Source software, BSD licenses, the Apache license and so forth. That would make the case for GNU GPL legislation void. However, as Lawrence Lessig taught us in his book Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, the code may in itself work against plurality.""

1 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. a pointlessly divisive debate by opus · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    This is a pointlessly divisive debate. What difference does it make if RMS and Bradley Kuhn would support radical change in US copyright laws regarding software?

    It's as silly as a heated debate over the future government of Mars.

    Radical change in US copyright law regarding software has about as much chance of happening in the next 30 years as legalization of marijuana.

    All we can do is fight for what few legal rights we do have (e.g. the right to reverse engineer), and work outside the political and legal system to create a world in which software copyrights don't matter, by writing and supporting Free Software.

    Tim O'Reilly, ESR, RMS, and others: please stop the pointless squabbling.