begin oe_protect.scr
peterwn <peterwn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> The GNU GPL and the American Way
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | Microsoft describes the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) as an
>> | "open source" license, and says it is against the American Way...
>> |
> There used to be an expression "What is good for General Motors is good
> for the USA".
>
> Presumably there is now a revised form "What is good for Microsoft is
> good for the USA".
>
> So Bill Gates thinks that feudal behaviour, Enclosures Act, peasants
> being forced off their lands, robber barons were OK. He seems to have
> similar views on intellectual property, and for that matter on the law.
> Seems he could not care a hoot about the law, on one hand seriously
> vilating EU law, and on the other hand effectively asking the British
> Government to criminalise use of unlicenced software even if by
> accident.
>
This is very much the behaviour of robber-barons; the people are there
to be exploited, so first you break the law to exploit them, as Mr Wong
indicates that you should, then you look to get the law changed in order
to legitimise what you're doing.
The modern multi-national corporation is a powerful thing, and has
many parallels with the robber-barons of yore. There were a number of
very good SF films produced in the 1990s which explored these areas in
some detail. They could be seen as being overly dramatic, but if you
look carefully, in the main, they're probably understating the issues in
many respects.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
Joe's sister puts spaghetti in her shoes!
|
|
