From: Kragen Sitaker (kragen@pobox.com)
Date: Fri May 11 2001 - 19:33:23 PDT
John Hall writes:
> 2. I believe that the social benefit to generating useful products based
> upon knowledge is the key, and 'copy tolls' are the key means of protecting
> this in the software.
This is the core of the debate: does the social benefit come from the
production of useful products or from their use? IP encourages the
former and discourages the latter. I think the social benefit comes
from the use of the products, not their production.
In fact, the production of useful intellectual products involves the
use of others, so in some cases, reducing IP will increase both
production and consumption.
--
<kragen@pobox.com> Kragen Sitaker <http://www.pobox.com/~kragen/>
Perilous to all of us are the devices of an art deeper than we possess
ourselves.
-- Gandalf the White [J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Two Towers", Bk 3, Ch. XI]
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