From: Rafal Smigrodzki (rms2g@virginia.edu)
Date: Tue Dec 10 2002 - 10:44:07 MST
Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
>
> But let's be honest here...90% of the people who rant against Bill's
> billions don't have the first clue /why/ they object, or what the
> real moral foundation of their objection is.
### But I am different!!! (with an indignant exclamation and a haughty
shrug) ;-)
I don't recall ever reading
> an essay or a post condemning Bill for the legitimate reasons he
> actually can be justly comdemned (except my own, of course).
### I did write about the irrational use of IP laws, but I agree it is not
really an argument against Gates himself, who merely used them, but rather
an argument against the State which enacted them in the first place.
The congressmen who wrote the first copyright act two hundred years ago
probably thought of it as a tool for helping scrappy writers and composers
improve their meager income. They never imagined that words, in the form of
computer program, could become a tangible asset, even more important than
coal and steel. With such changes in the world it's no wonder that the law
is now working in a counterintuitive and destructive manner.
Rafal
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Jan 15 2003 - 17:58:39 MST