Re: Economics and the GPL

"Deven T. Corzine" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Wed, 19 Jun 2002, Matt Seitz wrote:
> > > Roger Fujii then wrote:
> > > > It's unclear that they *truely* would support such a move, as a relatively
> > > > short copyright would undermine the GPL.  
> > 
> > And then Deven T. Corzine wrote:
> > > (Now, whether or not the FSF would actually prefer shorter copyrights,
> > > that's another question.)
> > 
> > Is there any reason to suspect the FSF is lying, other than our speculation
> > regarding how shorter copyright would reduce the ability of the GPL to keep
> > code out of closed-source software?
> 
> I didn't claim they're lying.  I haven't read those links yet, so I wasn't 
> prepared to comment on their veracity.  I was merely disputing the point 
> that arguing for shorter copyrights would be inherently inconsistent with 
> the FSF's goals or behavior, somehow...

The only weapon that the FSF has in promoting their agenda is the GPL.  To
the extent that this is undermined, rms/FSF is unhappy.  Read
http://www.xemacs.org/About/XEmacsVsGNUemacs.html and read "What is the Legal Issue?"
So, it's unclear that they would want various portions of FSF code be turned
into public domain (gcc for example), for the same reason that they don't use 
XEmacs' GPLed code.  Remember that FSF not only wants to keep GPL out of propriatary
systems, but also compel source to be shipped with binaries, and disallow copyright
protections.  Saying the FSF will blunt their only weapon is like saying political
advocates take an oath of silence.  It *might* happen, but the incentives are really
against it.

> I'm sure that if a reduced copyright term allows GPL code to be eventually 
> incorporated into proprietary products, Stallman may not be thrilled with 
> that, but he can console himself with the fact that it cuts both ways, and 
> proprietary code could be reused in new GPL works just as quickly.

Not if it was not published in the first place.  It will only mean that binaries
will be free.  Not the code, which is what FSF wanted to begin with.

-r