Re: Copyright Misuse Doctrine in Apple v. Psystar

[Hyman Rosen]

Rjack wrote:
> Why not stop the rhetorical bullshit about "freedom" and admit the
> FSF wants to control how society treats the concept of intellectual
> property?

Because the FSF believes that users should have the freedom to
run, read, modify, and share software. Copyright law grants the
right to control copying and distribution of software to its
copyright holders. The GPL is an instrument of copyright law,
and it maintains the author's right of control, granting others
permission for copying and distribution under limited conditions.
Those conditions are meant to insure that any user who obtains
software under the GPL has the ability to run, read, modify, and
share the software.

While the FSF may have opinions about how an ideal society would
deal with trademarks, copyrights, and patents, their actions through
the GPL are meant to insure only the freedom of users who obtain
GPLed software.

> The GPL is not about freedom -- it's all about control.

Control is granted by copyright law to rights holders. The GPL
maintains that control, for the benefit of users, not for the
benefit of software developers, and especially not for software
developers who seek to deny users the four freedoms.

It is time for you to admit that you resent the tantalizing aspect
of free software - that it is tempting but out of reach to developers
who do not want to offer their own software on the same terms that
they receive the software they want to use.