Open Source

Thursday, August 22, 2002

My Comments on Lessig Versus Winer This comments on Dave Winer's very perceptive comments in today's www.scripting.com.   Cross Reference.  I too am as much of a legal neophyte as Dave Winer. Still I feel that I have something to contribute to the debate. Like Dave I am a happy capitalist and I think that you should have a right to sell software if you want to. It doesn't mean that people can or will purchase it over a free alternative but Lessig also doesn't have the right to take this freedom away from me. Even though software may be unsellable after 10 years, it still doesn't mean that Lessig should take my legal property away from me. As Dave said, Lessig seems to be going after the Big COs with this. And I think he is. What he is also after though is the wrongful copyright extensions granted by Congress that extend the rights of Disney and the like essentially indefinitely.  There are two fundamentally different types of content involved -- why should the same laws be applied to each?  Let's see these copyright extensions repealed to the founding fathers original intent (don't have the # off the top of my head but it was much lower) OR set to the same time period as a patent. Why are these different after all? They both serve to protect intellectual property. Direct Comments on Dave's Points: >>Second, it comes at a pretty bad time in the software business, which has been reeling from the idea that what we produce should all be free. The software industry is, imho, reeling from: The continued dominance of Microsoft and its rapacious penetration into new markets. There just aren't all that many places for new developers to go. It's no wonder that giving away code seems like such a good idea to many.  Let's face -- we're programmers, programmers want to see their code in use and they'll give it away if that's the only way to see it in use.  And that's OK.  They have that right. The movement towards so much software being bundled on computers has created a reality where many, if not most, consumers just don't have to buy software at all. This creates a culture against ISVs in general.  If people aren't used to buying software, it's much harder for them to do so.  And this isn't just Microsoft. There is now so much software bundled with modern Macintoshes that the Macintosh software market, which is generally stronger for an ISV than the Windows market (again IMHO), will begin to crumble. The rise in software prices relative to hardware prices. Every year hardware gets cheaper and software gets more expensive. While we may understand this, it makes no sense to the average consumer who basically figures "I'll use what came with my machine and pirate, download, or use free alternatives. i.e. it's the syndrome of How can a copy of office be worth 50% of my Macintosh iBook?" >>Perhaps Lessig and his friends are well intentioned, I don't know what the thought process is, and I don't care. Not wanting to know what Lessig's thought process isn't helpful to the debate. We may disagree with him but Dr. Lessig is a smart, intelligent man.  Shouldn't we at least try and understand people we are being critical of? 7:02:11 PM