Re: The sad decline of copyleft software licenses? :(

[Pen-Yuan Hsing]

On 9/23/20 5:28 AM, Yasuaki Kudo wrote:
> I would really like to hear broad philosophical arguments concerning this.
>
> Although I am no expert, it seems the crux of the problem is "intellectual 
> property" itself?

Broadly-speaking yes. And when it comes to software, it specifically 
concerns copyright and patents. I think the FSF has an article (probably 
written by RMS) that discusses this (and recommends against using 
nebulous terms like intellectual property).

> I wonder if there are  arguments for nullifying or limiting the extent of the 
> "copyright holders' terms and conditions" in the first place.

I'm also not a legal professional but have a strong interest in what 
you're asking. There's indeed academic discussion on the extremely 
harmful effects of how draconian and long-lasting current copyright 
restrictions last. In my opinion, copyright rules as they are now 
greatly stifles creativity. I was really inspired by the book "Free 
Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity" by Lawrence Lessig and 
"Against Intellectual Monopoly" by Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine 
if you want to read more on the topic. The Techdirt blog is also quite 
insightful.

The tricky part is that free software licenses, copyleft or not, derive 
their power to ensure software freedom from copyright law. So if 
copyright laws were to magically disappear, then the only currently 
existing mechanism for protecting free software disappears with them.

Is there a solution to this somewhat paradoxical situation? (honest 
question)