Pinboard (guardiantech)

“Your criticisms are completely wrong”: Stallman on software patents, 20 years in >> Ars Technica

guardiantech — 2012-11-22T21:44:35+00:00

[Professor John] Duffy [of the University of Virginia] raised the specter that some things might not be invented at all without patents, in software and other fields. "The only thing worse than a patented technology that burdens the public is not having a technology at all," he said. Sure, some software patents were a pain, but others were protecting important work. "The question is, will you get very serious research that is patent-motivated? Speech recognition, for example, is very patent-intensive."
In Stallman's view, the idea that society might be able to eliminate "bad patents" while keeping good ones is a kind of Jedi mind trick. Offering patents as a reward for software development—a system where the prize is a right to shut down someone else—is fatally flawed.
"Consider the MP3 patent," said Stallman. "That caused a lot of harm. It's not trivial, it came from a research institute. But we can fund research institutes in other ways."

(Thanks @doarunner for the link.)

Notes on MegaUpload arrests >> Richard Stallman

guardiantech — 2012-01-28T23:04:25+00:00

The government of New Zealand arrested the founders of Megaupload to send them to the US for trial. They are accused of commercial copyright infringement. And many of their personal goods were seized, for no obvious reason. Here is what the US says about them.

I do not advocate in general legalizing commercial use of music without permission. (I think all works meant for practical uses must be free, but that does not apply to music, since music is meant for appreciation, not for practical use.) So if Megaupload intended to do that, I won't criticize stopping it.

What a fascinating distinction: if it's "art", then it shouldn't be free.

2011: July - October Political Notes: on Steve Jobs >> Richard Stallman

guardiantech — 2011-10-31T22:03:22+00:00

Richard Stallman has more thoughts: "[Steve] Jobs saw how to make these computers stylish and smooth. That would normally be positive, but not in this case, since it has the paradoxical effect of making their controlling nature seem acceptable."

Richard Stallman speaker visiting requirements >> mysociety public list

guardiantech — 2011-10-26T21:37:35+00:00

A fascinating read. In effect, a mini-autobiography.

On Steve Jobs >> Richard Stallman

guardiantech — 2011-10-10T22:11:04+00:00

"Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died. "As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone." Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing. "Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective." So it goes.