Slashdot Mirror
Linux "is not piracy" Says Microsoft Lawyer
dipfan writes "Further to this Slashdot piece on the activities of the Business Software Alliance, the BBC reports on a European conference on piracy organised by the BSA. The good news is even Microsoft distinguishes between open source software and piracy; it quotes Microsoft's top in-house lawyer Brad Smith as saying: 'Linux is a way of developing software whereas piracy is copying.' The rest of the article is the usual panic-attack about the size of software piracy in general, and how this is holding back the software industry in Eastern Europe, according to Brad. Although the article notes the irony that despite all the piracy, software sales are forecast to grow from $50 billion in 2000 to about $90 billion by 2005."
Yeah, thats all very well, but where is the `theft` and where is the `piracy`. Both these words already have meanings in dictionaries which have nothing in common with the definitions as implied in the article - indeed in almost every discussion about software `piracy`.
*sigh* I bet you bitch about the difference between hacker/cracker too.
The theft is in the copying. You have made/taken a copy which you were not allowed to do so. Therefore you have taken the data without their permission. Given that you have something which belongs to someone else which you didn't have before, and you have it without their permission, that is theft.
Simon
Coming soon - pyrogyra
Seriously, any news here? This is just the usual rambling on piracy, which -despite all obvious exaggerations- is a problem, as it has always been for decades. But that headline shows zealotry on its finest. Microsoft has evil business practices, but it has human employees after all. DOH!
But Microsoft Windows is definitely an illegal restraint of trade. That's what the court decided. Remember?
It's really late and I'm alone on a subway car with your mother. I think she's sexy. Now the law says your mother's sex organs are her property to license as she sees fit. I suppose that with some application of charm, or display of wealth (since it's your mother, a crisp $20 would probably do) I could convince her to grant me access to park my skin yacht in hair harbor, but maybe I don't think she's worth the effort or expense. So, I just rape the shit out of your mom for duration of the subway car.
Now, at the end of the ride, she's lost nothing. She still has her vagina. She didn't lose any time (she had to ride to her stop anyway). All she's lost is the propery rights to her snatch, which -- based on her offspring -- couldn't have been that valueable to her anyway.
I like the way you think. Now, where's your mom live?