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Linus Corrects Darl on Copyright Law
cybermancer writes "ITWorld.com has a rebuttal by Linus Torvalds to Darl McBride's latest FUD on copyrights and Open Source. In a nutshell Darl states "SCO asserts that the GPL, under which Linux is distributed, violates the United States Constitution and the U.S. copyright and patent laws" and Linus points out that "the notion that the GPL has, of "exchange of receipt of copyrighted works," is actually explicitly encoded in U.S. copyright law". With Linus of course providing a link allowing the reader to see the law for themselves."
does anyone else think these sco guys are just releasing all these inflamatory statements just to bait the leaders of the oss movement. playing on their passions to force them to make comments that will eventually be used against them in court?
While the front page article looks like some one just felt the need to show the caldera icon once more there seem to be interesting things happening at SCO, apparently some of the investors are not that happy with the current state of events:
SCO Finalizes Agreements With Investors and Law Firms
and...
Santa Claus Operation
A new look for SCO - not supreme but funny enough to take a look.
sco_christmas
605413? Yes, it's a prime.
The better strategy from Darl's point of view will be to rebut something that is not Linus' argument at all.
For example, darl might rebut as follows:
Linus must be crazy to think that the united states can be overthrown from within by a bunch of poorly funded communists!
Attacking off topic is generally much more effective in the public forum than actually debating your opponent.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
isn't government, at best, just a necessary evil?
Linus makes an excellent case for the legality of the GPL under the constitution as it stands, but who's to say that the constitution, in its current incarnation, is anywhere close to adequate? What if, for once, Darl actually got something right and the constitution DID say that copyrights REQUIRED a pure profit motive? What sense is there in enforcing an antiquated law if the result of that action ran contrary to the best interest of society, progress, or just general common sense?
I mean, fundamentally speaking, all governments begin with the purest form of democracy - a person or group of persons decide what is in their best interest and then act upon that decision. It is only later, when a group becomes too large to govern itself effectively, that it chooses to allow some other person or group to act on its behalf. There is always choice involved; even dictators would be powerless if their soldiers simply laid down arms and said "screw you buddy".
All i'm saying is that MAYBE we (and by we, i mean "the government") should be debating wether Darl's ideas on copyright are in anyone's best interest other than his OWN rather than trying to decide if he has some shaky, defunct legal leg to stand on.
The constitution is and has always been a dynamic document . . . else women would still be a silent majority.
** Chigusaaa!!! You're the coolest girl in the WORLD!!! **
One has to wonder if maybe Boise et al weren't railroaded into signing up for this case in the first place. They may have thought better if they knew what ground they'd eventually be treading on. Now on the other hand, they may just be greedy lawyers rooting for the bad guys, but in the past Boise has had nothing but a good reputation. Kinda makes you wonder, or at least makes me wonder. Contracts are contracts and there probably is no turning back for the lawyers at this point. (IANAL but then again, most of us aren't so I probably don't really need to put that.)
Speak for yourself.
Yes, this is important because authors never made any money before copyright. Amazing how with one act of law, whole fields of human endeavour, writing, music, art, finally become worthwhile. Thank you Government, I don't know what we'd do without you.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
But one should be cautious...
While the SCO menace may be simply a minor diversion (akin to Lurtz) the true menaces may be more corrupting and more difficult to fight.Defending or defeating attacks from the closed source enemy means a need to unite and to pool the copyrights we each develop individually. But such power placed in any one man is a difficult thing to manage, to defend, and to resist the corrupting greed that arises from it.
Of course there doesn't seem to be much alternative:
- Stay low, hidden in the woods while others feed the corruption of the ruling closed source
- Unmake the power and release all copyright into the public domain. This destroys the corrupting influence, but it strenghthens the enemy as well.
- Continue to weild the GPL until the problems and corrupting influence of the intellectual property system can be worked out and the evil truly unmade.
Sorry, if the above arguments are a bit muddled. I guess I have something else weighing on my mind.