Re: [DMCA-Activists] Summary of Nature of Software

[Seth Finkelstein]

> > http://swpat.ffii.org/analysis/cost/index.en.html#softecon
> 
>   2.Software developed by one man (ex. the Linux operating system, the

        As I'm sure Richard M. Stallman would remind us, the
GNU/Linux operating system was not developed by one man.

        Remember, Open Source is a business model, it's Free Software
which is a moral stance :-). That is, from the perspective of business
models, there is much to be said for an open system as opposed to a 
closed one, proprietary corporate culture notwithstanding. But it's
not magic. That cuts both ways.

        I agree with the general ideas of the paper. But I think
it's unconvincing to anyone outside of the choir, because it wraps
the argument too much in a kind of mysticism:

> Moreover they make it necessary to define a clear limit to the
> patent system in order not to let crude control mechanisms which were
> designed for material objects reach out into the sphere of the human mind.

        While I think this is basically right, it's right for more
more subtle reasons that aren't being served well by arguing this as
a self-evident distinction.

-- 
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  address@hidden  http://sethf.com
Interview: http://grep.law.harvard.edu/article.pl?sid=03/12/16/0526234
Seth Finkelstein's Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/