MetaFilter posts tagged with copyright and software

Bad day for Oracle

Artw — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 00:07:40 -0800

Following a jury finding that Google had not infiringed upon Oracles patents, a development described as a near disaster for the database company, Judge William Aslup has ruled that the Java APIs cannot be copyrighted. That leaves Oracle with only the 9 lines of rangeCheck code and a handfull of decompiled test files to show for the massivecourt case. CEO Larry Ellison remains confident, claiming that the aquisition of Java creator Sun has still paid for itself.

Why History Needs Software Piracy

homunculus — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:54:38 -0800

Why History Needs Software Piracy: How copy protection and app stores could deny future generations their cultural legacy.

Don’t make me steal

Artw — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:05:15 -0800

Don't Make Me Steal - a Digital Media Consumption Manifesto.

"It's rare to come to face-to-face with the people behind the software, music, and media we pirate on regular basis; I guess that's part of the problem."

ND¢ — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:42:11 -0800

So there is this guy named Jona Bechtolt and he is an electronic musician and multimedia artist who performs as YACHT. He recently described in an interview some audio software that he had illegally downloaded, adding "Does all this piracy make me a bad person?". The company that makes the software that he illegally downloaded apparently saw his comment and wrote a blog post where they linked to his interview and stated "We've put up with rampant idiocy from people that style themselves members of the creative community but are actually members of some kind of bullshit that doesn't have a name." Then Mr. Bechtolt commented on that blog post kind of apologizing, but also saying "I'm a musician and I haven't bought music in years, nor have almost all of my musician friends." Then the company wrote him an open letter explaining why they did not accept his apology. [via Pitchfork]

Yes!

finite — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:42:59 -0800

djb releases code to public domain, including qmail. qmail (and djb's other software) was previously considered "license-free", which meant that it was copyrighted but had no license aside from some simple language that allowed distributing unmodified versions. The practical effect was that distributors of modified versions were forced to distribute their modifications as patches, like this. In the brief video under the first link, djb explains his reasons for releasing these copyrights.

Kellydamnit — Thu, 22 Aug 2002 07:19:30 -0800

American movie, recording and software executives could be prohibited from entering Australia or extradited to face criminal charges if a copyright protection bill before the US Congress passes into law.

Anti-rip CD system bypassed.

fuzzygeek — Wed, 01 Aug 2001 11:16:16 -0800

Anti-rip CD system bypassed. heh. nice try, boyos. i've never understood how people can believe something digitized can possibly be protected in such a manner as to be foolproof. what one process can scramble, another can undo. [via /.]

Be very afraid.

Steven Den Beste — Tue, 13 Mar 2001 07:57:16 -0800

Be very afraid. The only real solution to this is backlash and boycott. Technical solutions to "InTether" are inadequate (especially since every such will be a violation of the DMCA). If content vendors will only sell their material this way, don't buy! (Ultimately, it's going to take an act of Congress to straighten this all out. How about a law making it illegal to prevent "fair use"?)

Folks, this one's not a joke.

Steven Den Beste — Sun, 05 Mar 2000 07:20:18 -0800

Folks, this one's not a joke. The major software publishers are trying to make an end-run around the copyright laws. If this passes anywhere we're all potentially going to be bound by it. All they have to do is stick a clause in the license that says "This shall be governed by the laws of the state of Virginia."

They're also trying to make an end-run around the First Amendment. If this passes it will be illegal for you to write a review about any software package, or to reveal any information about bugs you find.

Finally, they're trying to make an end-run around property law. If it passes, you won't own the software you purchase, you'll be leasing it, and you won't be protected by state laws on commercial purchase.