Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
granting intellectual property rights to creators of computer software has numerous
harmful consequences:
.
The copyright system was designed for an era in which it was difficult to create
copies. Digital technology has made copying trivial. In order to enforce copyrights
in the digital age, increasingly harsh measures are being taken. These measures
infringe on our liberties.
.
The purpose of the copyright system is to promote progress, not to make authors
wealthy. Copyrights are not promoting progress in the computer software field.
.
It is wrong to allow someone to “own” a piece of intellectual property. Granting
someone this ownership forces the users of a piece of intellectual property to choose
between respecting ownership rights and helping their friends. When this happens,
the correct action is clear. If a friend asks you for a copy of a proprietary program,
you would be wrong to refuse your friend. “Cooperation is more important than
copyright” [124].
The
open-source movement
is the philosophical position that source code to soft-
ware ought to be freely distributed and that people should be encouraged to examine
and improve each other's code. The open-source software movement promotes a coop-
erative model of software development.
Open source
is an alternative way of distributing software. Licenses for open-source
programs have the following key characteristics (there are others) [125]:
1. There are no restrictions preventing others from selling or giving away the software.
2. The source code to the program must be included in the distribution or easily
available by other means (such as downloadable from the Internet).
3. There are no restrictions preventing people from modifying the source code, and
derived works can be distributed according to the same license terms as the original
program.
4. There are no restrictions regarding how people can use the software.
5. These rights apply to everyone receiving redistributions of the software without the
need for additional licensing agreements.
6. The license cannot put restrictions on other software that is part of the same dis-
tribution. For example, a program's open-source license cannot require all of the
other programs on the CD to be open source.
Note that there is nothing in these guidelines that says an open-source program
must be given away for free. While people may freely exchange open-source programs, a
company has the right to sell an open-source program. However, a company cannot stop
others from selling it either. In order for a company to be successful selling open-source
software that people can find for free on the Internet, it must add some additional value
to the software. Perhaps it packages the software so that it is particularly easy to install.
It may provide great manuals, or it may provide support after the sale.
