Do you think that laws such as the DMCA pose a threat to open source software, in that they may lead to the creation of proprietary, encrypted
file formats, running only on proprietary operating systems, for media such as films, music
and books?
If this makes some people realise that trusting your data to closed source applications is a
bad idea, it'll be worth it.
Hopefully someone will write an open source clone of Hypercard.
And do it in a portable way, so it runs on Unix and MS boxes as well as Macs. Or Jobs will allow
it to be open sourced.
Should there be clause added to the GPL and other open licenses that prohibits jerks like movie studios from benefitting from the same process they try to destroy?
I suggested this to Richard Stallman last year.
(Here's my proposal). However, he was against the
proposal, as it stood.
We shouldn't. Companies have no particular obligation to help others.
But they do have an obligation not to harm others, which is what they are doing.
South Africa wants to by generic anti-Aids drugs from Thailand, costing 22c per pill, but the drug companies instead want them (under WIPO rules) to buy the patented version costing $13, which many
South Africans can't afford and will die because of.
The drug companies want to kill people in their
insatiable quest for profits. This is evil
and the bosses of these companies deserve to be injected with HIV and then denied treatment for AIDS.
This wouldn't be so be if, in return for this,
people who've paid this tax on their machines
were authorised to make copies of copyright material - after all, they've paid for doing so.
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Do you think that laws such as the DMCA pose a threat to open source software, in that they may lead to the creation of proprietary, encrypted file formats, running only on proprietary operating systems, for media such as films, music and books?
Is the new Amiga OS compatible with the old Amiga OS? Will it run (old) Amiga programs?
Or is it a separate product that's just trying to capitalise on the name?
If this makes some people realise that trusting your data to closed source applications is a bad idea, it'll be worth it.
Hopefully someone will write an open source clone of Hypercard. And do it in a portable way, so it runs on Unix and MS boxes as well as Macs. Or Jobs will allow it to be open sourced.
Should there be clause added to the GPL and other open licenses that prohibits jerks like movie studios from benefitting from the same process they try to destroy?
I suggested this to Richard Stallman last year. (Here's my proposal). However, he was against the proposal, as it stood.
The EU's doing the same thing. See my page about the new EU copyright law.
Why should we expect companies to give ??
We shouldn't. Companies have no particular obligation to help others.
But they do have an obligation not to harm others, which is what they are doing. South Africa wants to by generic anti-Aids drugs from Thailand, costing 22c per pill, but the drug companies instead want them (under WIPO rules) to buy the patented version costing $13, which many South Africans can't afford and will die because of.
The drug companies want to kill people in their insatiable quest for profits. This is evil and the bosses of these companies deserve to be injected with HIV and then denied treatment for AIDS.
This wouldn't be so be if, in return for this, people who've paid this tax on their machines were authorised to make copies of copyright material - after all, they've paid for doing so.
There is no such thing as a viable non-enforceable payment plan.
I guess that's why there aren't any buskers in London :-)
If I link to a page [that links to a page]* that links to a DeCss, am I in trouble?
I've proposed a change to the GPL which would penalise organisations that seek to forbid hyperlinking to open source software.