"We believe that all the fruits of all human endeavour properly belong to all of humankind."
If, as I believe, this premise is ***completely wrong***, then the rest of the "rights" arguments fall apart. To tell me that the fruit of *my* endeavor belongs to all of humankind is "a form of violence." If someone wants to donate the fruit of their endeavors to all of humankind, that is their right. If they want to do so via a "viral" license like the GPL, that also is their right. But the mere fact that we are discussing their individual rights is a priori evidence that I have the same rights to decide otherwise.
Slashdot Mirror
Here's the premise that has to be dealt with:
"We believe that all the fruits of all human endeavour properly belong to all of humankind."
If, as I believe, this premise is ***completely wrong***, then the rest of the "rights" arguments fall apart. To tell me that the fruit of *my* endeavor belongs to all of humankind is "a form of violence." If someone wants to donate the fruit of their endeavors to all of humankind, that is their right. If they want to do so via a "viral" license like the GPL, that also is their right. But the mere fact that we are discussing their individual rights is a priori evidence that I have the same rights to decide otherwise.
Donnie
Not to plug my own work, but I recently posted an article that touches some on this topic. You can find it here: http://www.blognet.info/weblogs/entry.php?u=adhale jr&e_id=1560.
I hope it helps someone...
Donnie