RE: GPL and Economics

> Sorry, I found another statement I question:
> 
> "Patrik Stridvall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Note that the possible economic transaction are not as fine 
> grained as they
> > are in normal markets. So the market is not truely free 
> because of this.
> 
> They are the terms the owner has chosen.  In a free market, 
> the owner has a
> right to set whatever terms they want.  Just because a 
> potential customer
> doesn't like the owner's terms doesn't make it any less a 
> truly free market.

I you only have two actors on the market this is absolutely true.
However if you have more than you have the problem that if say
X number of people make a GPL:ed work together it becomes quite
more difficult for invidual contributors to change the terms of their
work to something else if another group of people comes along
and wishes to cooperative. Not impossible but more difficult.

The point is that each transaction on the market limits the possible
future choices of people on the market, so it is not truely free in
the meaning of a normal free market.