Meeting

Steve Poling sdpoling at attbi.com
Tue Jul 30 16:33:55 CDT 2002


I think that "ownership" means different things in different contexts.
Who owns a sunset? Who owns a gold coin? Who owns the theorem of
Pythagorus?

It is pretty clear that only deity could hold claim to the first. It is
also pretty clear that tangible items of value have clear ownership. The
theorem of Pythagorus probably belongs to Pythagorus, but there's a
sense that Py can derive no value from this theorem unless it is
distributed in some sense to others.

Intellectual property has its legal basis in Copyright/Patent law. I've
speculated before that intellectual property may have no legal basis in
those stone tablets that Moses brought down from Sinai.

If I understand the Constitution rightly, copyrights and patents were
intended to prevent Pythagorus from keeping his theorems secret by
granting him a monopoly for a fixed period after which everyone could
use it. I think that expiration of copyrights and patents was a key
element of the law so that other guys like Euclid or Plato could use the
info after expiration. These days expiration of copyrights and patents
is timed to make sure nobody else benefits from the info. 

It is interesting to note that Freon was found to be harmful to the
ozone layer and then outlawed at just the time when DuPont's patent
expired. Not to worry, DuPont has a different chemical for sale that is
covered by non-expired patents.

If I understand the Constitution rightly, copyrights and patents were to
ENCOURAGE wider dissemination of information. However, with everything
locked up in DRM schemes and with it soon to be a felony to possess
code-breaking software that would undermine such systems, one wonders if
information will be tied up too tightly in bureaucrasy to be
disseminated. If so, this may have a baleful influence on societal
progress. However, it will have a positive influence on the finances of
Senators Biden or Hollings.

Stallman made the simple observation that he could be more effective if
everyone shared information. Within the friendly confines of the MIT AI
lab, one didn't need passwords because nobody wearing a diaper on his
head was trying to throw a spanner in the works. Perhaps Stallman would
have a different attitude if he'd encountered a saboteur or a script
kiddy.

It now appears that mechanisms are being put in place under the guise of
protecting us from saboteurs and script kiddies, but their end effect is
to protect monopolies rich enough to buy Senators. Because laws will
prevent law-abiding people from testing the efficasy of these so-called
security measures, the public will have less security when
hostile-state-sponsored saboteurs attack.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-grand-rapids-pm-list at pm.org 
> [mailto:owner-grand-rapids-pm-list at pm.org] On Behalf Of Bill Day
> Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 11:56 AM
> To: Matthew.Heusser at mks.net; grand-rapids-pm-list at happyfunball.pm.org
> Subject: Re: Meeting
> 
> 
> My comment that RMS wants to banish intellectual property was 
> out of context. This was not from the film, it was from 
> yesterday's slashback: "...the term 'intellectual property' 
> lumps together disparate areas of law, including copyright, 
> patent, trademark, and others, and that they are so different 
> that it is a mistake to try to group them together."
> 
> He is not completly against ownership, he just wants the 
> issues to be dealt with seperatly.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Matthew.Heusser at mks.net
> Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 10:49:52 -0400
> To: williamday at email.com, grand-rapids-pm-list at happyfunball.pm.org
> Subject: Re: Meeting
> 
> 
> > 
> > 
> > >(RMS has indicated we should banish the term "intellectual 
> property")
> > 
> > Did you notice that, even though he is against IP, he still wants 
> > "Credit", by having Linux called GNU/Linux?  What's that all about?
> > 
> > I also noticed that three other open source people, during 
> the movie, 
> > said something to the effect of "I couldn't beleive that 
> something I 
> > WROTE became so popular / was read by so-and-so / impacted 
> > such-and-such a company to reach X-Y-Z decision."
> > 
> > Kinda funny, to give up you IP rights but want credit. :-)
> > 
> > 
> > As i've stated before, I'd be happy to present on Extreme 
> Programming 
> > (which, IMHO, is just as perl-ish as revolution-os was ...) but our 
> > 1st Child is due in August so i'm gonna be kinda busy.  
> Maybe october?
> > 
> > regards,
> > 
> > Matt H.
> > 
> > 
> 
> -- 
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