Re: Documentation Standards was Re: [ox-en] UserLinux
- From: Martin Hardie <auskadi tvcabo.co.mz>
- Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003 08:03:55 +0200
Copyright basically arose because of the introduction of the printing press to
England
In the very early days it was used as a form of censorship in order to stop
the unauthorised dissemination of religous ideas that had been controlled
previously by monks/scribes/monestaries (ie as in Eco's The Name of The
Rose). I wrote some stuff on this in the context of Aboriginal art and
copyright
see: What Wandjuk Wanted: http://openflows.org/~auskadi/wandjuk.html
The immediate solution was the monopoly regime whereby the London booksellers
exercised their perpetual monopoly throught he grant of royal patents.
With the joining of Scotland to the Union, the position of non London
booksellers arose. The Statute of Anne upon which most regimes are modelled
(well in the common law world at least eg US, Australia etc) arose out of
this struggle between the London booksellers and the rest. The London
booksellers hid behind the facade of protecting authors rights. Not that they
or anyone since have really been interested in this. Hence the compromise was
reached by parliament to by intoducing the notions of authors rights,
originality and a limited term.
I can go on .....
But i gotta go now.....
innovation is a funny thing but
I think the whole idea of freedom is confusing and ambiguous. just listen
to the differences (and similarities) of what george bush's freedom is and
<rms's freedom. I for one am confused.
this is why I think tying ourselve to the rhetoric of freedom is nonsense. It
is tying ourselves to the ameriacn vision of freedom. The two versions of it
which in the end are the same thing.
I am gone now
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