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On 6/23/06, Dieter <netbsd@sopwith.solgatos.com> wrote:I don't know about you guys, but if someone takes IP we release for this project under GPL and puts it into their own chip without either paying for it or releasing the rest of their design under GPL, I'm going feel personally insulted and cheated. Not to say that I don't expect a certain amount of piracy, but the one idea behind releasing it under GPL is that you CAN try it before you buy it. The instant someone else starts making money from our work here without us benefitting from it, that's highway robbery. It's theft not only from those who worked on it directly but from the community as a whole. How I feel about someone downloading songs from the internet depends on how they dealt with their downloads later. Were they trying to find out what they liked? Did they delete the MP3s they didn't like? Did they buy legit copies of the ones they did like? The fact that the RIAA is evil does complicate matters. But I also don't pirate Microsoft stuff. To some people, they feel justified in pirating commercial software on the grounds that proprietary software or some given vendor is evil. I don't. If I want it badly enough, I'm going to pay for it; mostly I just avoid it entirely. To me, copyright is our friend, because it's what protects our GPL'd works from being pirated by companies that want to benefit from our work without giving back to the community. That copyright law doesn't apply only when I want it to and not apply when it's inconvenient. I've never bought into those arguments that it's okay to copy digital material because it doesn't cost any extra just to make a copy. Oh, I agree that it's hard to put in the same class as, say, a Fabergee egg or something else with tangible presence. But the work and craftsmanship that goes into developing a good piece of software should be shown no less respect than what went into a piece of art. Being easier to copy doesn't enter into it. Should we be allowed to make and distribute as many copies as we like of a Picasso painting? It was easy to copy! Just scan and print! Microsoft Office is easy to copy, just like your favorite They Might Be Giants songs. But then so is OpenOffice, and we should prevent people from abusing the rights of the people who developed it. As much as I am bothered by copyright violation, however, I hate DRM more, and I'm a very strong believer in fair-use. I'm very happy that iTunes lets you listen to a 30-second snippet of a song before you have to pay for it, and if I buy a song, I damn well better be able to burn compilations of my favorites so I can play them in the car. _______________________________________________ Open-graphics mailing list Open-graphics@duskglow.com http://lists.duskglow.com/mailman/listinfo/open-graphics List service provided by Duskglow Consulting, LLC (www.duskglow.com)
