A tempest in a toybox

A tempest in a toybox

I think getting the legal system all over code is bad for the code, and there's no real _difference_ between MPAA/RIAA/SOPA, decss and DVDCCA, crypto export regulations, software patents, or the FSF/SFLC/GPLv3.

There are large practical difference: MPAA/RIAA/SOPA/etc try to make devices closed, FSF/SFLC/GPLv3/etc try to keep them open. In a world without MPAA/RIAA/SOPA/etc the efforts of FSF/SFLC/GPLv3/etc will be useless and pointless. Sadly we don't live in such a world, we live in a world where MPAA/RIAA/etc is reality and every small victory (like SOPA death) is immediately replaced with something else (like ACTA). In this world efforts of FSF/SFLC/GPLv3/etc are important.