pallas@polya.Stanford.EDU (Joe Pallas) (06/09/89)
In article <2827@portia.Stanford.EDU> rick@hanauma (Richard Ottolini) writes:
A group of computer scientists have gotten tired of the software
patent fights and have started taking action. Today the source code
of obnoxious company's software, Apple's toolbox ROM, was posted
anonymously on the network.
I hope these ``computer scientists'' realize that, without
intellectual property rights like copyright, the ``free'' software of
which their leader, Richard M. Stallman, is so fond would be
impossible.
****************************************************************************
Without copyright, you can't prevent people from making proprietary
enhancements to your code.
****************************************************************************
The Free Software Foundation takes the peculiar view that copyright
for code is good, but copyright for graphical images is bad. Many of
their adherents seem to be woefully confused about the status of
``look and feel'' copyrights, as well. They seem to think that Apple
invented the notion of look and feel copyrights and is trying to
legitimize it in the courts, when the fact is that look and feel
copyrights have already been recognized by the courts, and Apple is
not seeking a new precedent.
If these ``computer scientists'' feel that copyright in general is a
bad idea, that's their privilege. But they should be aware that their
feeling is diametrically opposed to the expressed goals of the Free
Software Foundation.
joe