Re: Open software and copyright (Was: Re: thought for the week)

On 7/29/99, Peter D. Junger <junger[_at_]samsara.law.cwru.edu> wrote:
>
> On Tue, 27 Jul 1999, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
> >
> > Of course there is an alternative to individual copyright
> > ownership in the ancient practice of patronage. Whoever is
> > rich enough to keep an author can own his/her works -- and
> > decide to give them away.
> >
> > - Employees of the Federal government for instance
> > have no copyright whatsoever.
> > - Employees of Microsoft have no claim on copyrights
> > that belong to their employer / patron.
> > - Other authors may negotiate and keep their copyrights.
> >
> > Is it not good to have options that serve a diversity of talents
> > and life styles?
>
> Probably. But your question is hardly responsive to the issue of
> whether, limiting the discussion to software, copyright protection
> leads to more creativity or to more software or to better software.
> The success of the free/open software movement, and the dependency
> of the Internet and the World Wide Web on software created without
> copyright protection -- or with only copyleft protection --, are
> strong empirical evidence not only that copyright protection is not
> needed to encourage either creativity with respect to or the
> production of software and that our current copyright protection
> regime leads to wasteful rent seeking and to excessively high costs
> to consumers. What is the marginal cost of a copy of Windows 98?
> What is its price? What is Microsoft's return on investment?

The important question is the return to Microsoft programmers especially if paid in common stock or options. Just because the market is willing to pay for software doesn't convey some sort of evil. The open software movement is very nice but no success by comparison.

I can't believe, by the way, that open software programmers live on air.

Albert Henderson
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY
<70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com> Received on Fri Jul 30 1999 - 11:55:29 GMT