Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Napster and Software

Author:Mark A. Hershberger
Posted:7/12/2000; 11:37:45 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 7/12/2000
Msg #:18496 (In response to 18477)
Prev/Next:18495 / 18497

As someone who works with free software -- my living depends on it -- I'm disturbed by the love affair many people are having with Napster. Napster encourages people to disregard copyright, and that is a bad thing. Yes, I believe music should be more copyable, but the copyright specifically disallows distribution the way that Napster handles it. If we can freely disregard the copyright on music, what is going to stop us from ignoring the copyright (or copyleft) on software?

It disturbs me that people are willing to ignore copyright for their own personal pleasure. I'm confused about Dave's motivation, for example. He rants about the RIAA, but still sells his own copyrighted software.

Isn't this disingenuous? If a group of warez traders on IRC started swapping Frontier and people started using it without paying Userland, shouldn't Dave have a right to be upset?

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that the people hacking away at Frontier have made a deal with Userland that is similar to the deal that many musicians have made with music distributors. They get to work on something they love and, because someone else is taking care of the distribution and promotion, their work is put in front public. It is understandable that the Userland asks them to give up some of their IP rights in exchange. (I'm assuming that Userland has the standard IP agreements with their employees, though I don't know this.)

Now, by no means do I mean to say that Userland is just as bad as some giant music publisher, but I do see a similarity in their roll as publisher.

What is going to keep software copyright safe when music copyright is being ignored? Yes, I know many people already ignore software copyrights. Nevertheless, since this issue is in front of Congress, all copyright (it seems to me) is in jeopardy.

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