"As a developer, I would prefer to do the opposite. Dismantle Leviathan, dismantle empires. As developers we have the power to change the society, to stop making (business) empires, and to demolish those that exist, such as all those based on copyright and patents. We must base our work on vlaues such as freedom and not on currency."
If you don't have some protection, you will have no business and lose any power you would have had to change anything.
Copyrights and patents protect the little guy as much as they protect big corporations. I don't think you would want to be in a world without such protections.
Copyrights and patents protect the little guy as much as they protect big corporations.
I am somewhat skeptical of that, but especially in regards to patents.
Many companies build patent porfolios out of a desire for ptoection, but only from other patent holders suing them as a large patent portfolio would likely permit them to counter-sue any practicing entity (read: anything other than a dedicated patent-troll). Others build up the portfolios of patents just to show value to potential purchasers. They generally do not actually provide protection for real R&D (and often don't represent an investment in it).
To very briefly summarize (and perhaps oversimplify): Even if patents can be good in the modern era, it is very easy to use them in bad ways, and they often are used in bad ways.
What I want to do is strive to make copyleft the default, instead of copyright being the default. It has to be protected the same.
To put something under copyright or patent it should cost millions, the expected price the society would loose if the invention/product was not improved on by others. To let it free to use as see fit by others should be default, and if anyone or company decides to not share or in other ways obstruct freedom, fined.
A value-shift is needed for this. Thats what I as developer am working for everyday, improving freedom software, being the change I wish to see.
> What I want to do is strive to make copyleft the default, instead of copyright being the default. It has to be protected the same.
I understand that your point is about freedom. But are you aware that, without copyright, there is no copyleft? Copyright is not the "default"; it is just always there. It is the right of an author to place conditions on how his work is handled, including, for example, licensing it under the GPL. Without copyright, everything is public domain, and so, for example, a requirement to make source code available when distributing a modified version of a program, would not be enforceable.
The laws need to be changed to better promote freedom, innovation and diversity instead of creating time-constrained monopolies.
Everything which is not in public domain explicitly, the copyleft is assigned to the author, where the rights to distribute the art and make derivatives is guaranteed by the law/judiciary office, just like it guarantees that copyright will be enforced today.
If you don't have some protection, you will have no business and lose any power you would have had to change anything.
Copyrights and patents protect the little guy as much as they protect big corporations. I don't think you would want to be in a world without such protections.