User Linux

[Colin Charles]

On Thu, 2004-02-12 at 00:09, Rui Miguel Seabra wrote:
> > > If I lived in the USA, I would have no legitimate way to take my CD's
> > > into MP3s (which is what a MP3 player -- much easier to find and buy
> > > than one that also plays Ogg/Vorbis -- plays).
> > 
> > If you own them, you can.
> 
> No I can't. I'm not talking about owning or not the CD's but of not
> being authorized by the owners of patents concerning MP3 (which are
> valid in the USA). Remember that I only use Free Software. Remember that
> Fedora Core only distributes Free Software. Since MP3 is patent
> encumbered, RedHat and FC can't distribute MP3 related software.

Oh yes. That's true. Well, you could buy a license for the MP3 codec,
though I don't know if they sell them. But that means you're getting
really pedantic (and most end users, and lawyers, probably won't
bother).

> > > There is no such act of that so called "piracy" (although I don't
> > > understand what hijacking ships, murdering and stealing have to do with
> > > copying).
> > 
> > "piracy" can be defined many times in the English language. Its just
> > like the English word for "free".
> 
> Actually, the term piracy only started being pushed into this context
> ever since WIPO started, so no, that's not the same case (by far) of
> free as speech vs free as in beer.

Piracy is a word, its what the word implies that matters. Whoever
started it when it came to refer to it during software, music, etc...
did it because its a good marketing term. 

> It's totally artificial and created with the intention of subconsciously
> associating someone who copies a work (without permission from the
> owner) with a real pirate, who do real harm instead of not so big
> profits.

Copying work is bad, period. Fair use is a different scenario.

> Software patents are excellent helpers for guys like IBM, Microsoft and
> such to engage in real act of "piracy" forbidding authors from using
> their own hard work (remember the Eolas patent?)

This is highly off-topic, so this will be my last e-mail with regards to
this on list. Regards.
-- 
Colin Charles, byte at aeon.com.my
http://www.bytebot.net/
http://fedoranews.org/colin/fnu/ - Fedora News Updates