Migration out of US [LWN.net]

Migration out of US

Posted Dec 25, 2003 6:31 UTC (Thu) by error27 (subscriber, #8346)
In reply to: Migration out of US by mepr
Parent article: Use of patented code in the kernel

The restrictions, from place to place, forbid things like criticizing homosexuality, espousing racism, protesting abortion and saying things which the government deems to blaspheme the Virgin Mary (that one, of course, is in Italy).

I've never wanted to do any of those things but I do like to write software... :/

It's something I worry about in a personal way pretty often. I've written security auditing tools (DMCA), and a p2p program (RIAA) and any decent size software is going to violate patents. (For legal reasons it's not wise for programmers to discuss software patents, so I won't discuss it any more.)

It makes me sad, that people are not free to think about and program whatever they want. I only offer my programs to people who want them. I'm not hurting anyone.

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Migration out of US

Posted Dec 28, 2003 22:08 UTC (Sun) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954) [Link]

I'm not hurting anyone.

Of course you are. You're hurting anyone else who would sell alternatives to your program. In the usual words of monopolists such as labor unions, you're taking food out of the mouths of your own compatriates.

So yes, you have to consider the issue as to whether someone else -- a person who possibly invented the technology you're distributing -- has a greater right to income from the invention than your right to engage in your hobby.

Migration out of US

Posted Dec 30, 2003 0:14 UTC (Tue) by error27 (subscriber, #8346) [Link]

I really meant that my software doesn't hurt anyone in a more direct way. For example, releasing viruses and worms should obviously be illegal.

To me it's not so much a hobby vs income type thing but a free speech issue. Calling something a hobby just trivializes it. Is writing GCC a hobby for RMS?

Even ignoring the free speech issues and assuming that I just wrote software as a hobby, the patent system is still very broken. I can't patent anything as a hobby because that would be too expensive and I don't make money as a hobbiest. The patent system only hurts me and doesn't offer me anything in return. In one case there was a company that patented extensions to Free Software which I have contributed to. They used it internally without releasing the source.

But to me, the issues of Free Speech and thought are what matter most.