ethical ubuntu

Jan Claeys lists at janc.be
Fri Jun 16 12:34:13 BST 2006


Op vr, 16-06-2006 te 16:50 +1000, schreef Peter Garrett:
> So: there's nothing wrong at all with selling software - but you don't get
> that choice either, if you want to stay within the law regarding such
> software. Suppose you sell someone your copy of Win XP - that person has
> no right to install it on another machine, unless you uninstall your copy,
> because the license allows only installation on one machine .... and so on.
> 
> By contrast, if I have the sheet music to, say, a flute sonata, I *own*
> that copy and I am free to give it away or sell it as I please. Because of
> copyright by the publisher, I am not legally entitied to make ten
> photocopies and hand them around or sell them, but at least I own the copy
> I *bought*.

I see no "contrast" between those two, they are just two examples of the
_same_ principle...

And in fact, if you sell your copy of WinXP, the new owner has all the
rights to install it on his computer.  He can even force you to
uninstall your copy because you are using _his_ copy illegally!

(And in case of Mozart's music, you can copy the notes by hand to
another sheet and sell that, because the publisher only owns the layout
and probably some remarks he added on the sheets he publishes.  Mozart
lived long before Mickey Mouse...)

> The analogy is quite appropriate, since a musical score is a program - a
> set of instructions for performing the task of playing the music. By
> contrast, the program ( set of translatable instructions ) in a "closed"
> computer program does not really belong to me. I can make markings and
> correct errors in my flute score as I wish. I am not allowed even to do
> that with a proprietary program.

You are allowed to change your own copy of the program as much as you
want (at least under EU laws).  Of course any damage caused by your
changes will be your fault.  Just like any faulty notes played after you
changed the music sheets are your responsibility too...


-- 
Jan Claeys




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