t byfield on Wed, 6 May 1998 06:30:17 +0200 (MET DST) |
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<nettime> Confusing words and phrases |
[This was adapted for email (web-page repetitions, URLs inserted) from <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html>. While many of the specific legal references are based on US law, it's worth noting that many US-centered "multinationals" are playing a game of three-card monte with the people around the world--by exploiting their influence on first-world governments to expand and impose hegemonic trans-national regulations on less-develop- ed countries, all the while shouting about how "global" markets are profoundly changing society. "Free" or "open source" theory may be trendy these days, but it neverthless offers a very wide range of critiques--some flakey, some fierce--of "corporate" ef- forts to lay claim to the financial profits that derive from hu- man efforts of every kind. So, however trendy it may be and how- ever US-centric it may be, these ideas are quite important. --T] Some Confusing or Loaded Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding There are a number of words and phrases which we recommend avoiding, either because they are ambiguous or because they imply an opinion that we hope you may not entirely agree with. <...> Also note Categories of Free Software (18k characters). <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/categories.html> "For free" If you want to say that a program is free software, please don't say that it is available "for free." That term specifically means "for zero price." Free software is a matter of freedom, not price. Free software is often available for free--for example, on many FTP servers. But free software copies are also available for a price on CD-ROMs, and proprietary software copies may occasionally be available for free. "Freeware" Please don't use the term "freeware" as a synonym for "free software." The term "freeware" was used often in the 1980s for programs released only as executables, with source code not available. Today it has no clear definition. "Give away software" It's misleading to use the term "give away" to mean "distribute a program as free software." It has the same problem as "for free": it implies the issue is price, not freedom. "Intellectual property" Publishers and lawyers like to describe copyright as "intellectual property." This term carries a hidden assumption---that the most natural way to think about the issue of copying is based on an analogy with physical objects, and our ideas of them as property. But this analogy overlooks the crucial difference between material objects and information: information can be copied and shared almost effortlessly, while material objects can't be. Basing your thinking on this analogy is tantamount to ignoring that difference. Even the US legal system does not entirely accept this analogy, since it does not treat copyrights just like physical object property rights. If you don't want to limit yourself to this way of thinking, it is best to avoid using the term "intellectual property" in your words and thoughts. "Piracy" Publishers often refer to prohibited copying as "piracy." In this way, they imply that illegal copying is ethically equivalent to attacking ships on the high seas, kidnaping and murdering the people on them. If you don't believe that illegal copying is just like kidnaping and murder, you might prefer not to use the word "piracy" to describe it. Neutral terms such as "prohibited copying" or "illegal copying" are available for use instead. Some of us might even prefer to use a positive term such as "sharing information with your neighbor." "Protection" Publishers' lawyers love to use the term "protection" to describe copyright. This word carries the implication of preventing destruction or suffering; therefore, it encourages people to identify with the owner and publisher who benefit from copyright, rather than with the users who are restricted by it. It is easy to avoid "protection" and use neutral terms instead. For example, instead of "Copyright protection lasts a very long time," you can say, "Copyright lasts a very long time." "Sell software" The term "sell software" is ambiguous. Strictly speaking, exchanging a copy of a free program for a sum of money is "selling"; but people usually associate the term "sell" with proprietary restrictions on the subsequent use of the software. You can be more precise, and prevent confusion, by saying either "distributing copies of a program for a fee" or "imposing proprietary restrictions on the use of a program," depending on what you mean. See Selling Free Software for more discussion of this issue. <URL below> "Theft" Copyright apologists often to use words like "stolen" and "theft" to describe copyright infringement. At the same time, they ask us to treat the legal system as an authority on ethics: if copying is forbidden, it must be wrong. So it is pertinent to mention that the legal system--at least in the US--rejects the idea that copyright infringement is "theft". Copyright advocates who use terms like "stolen" are misrepresenting the authority that they appeal to. The idea that laws decide what is right or wrong is mistaken in general. Laws are, at their best, an attempt to achieve justice; to say that laws define justice or ethical conduct is turning things upside down. <...> Other Texts to Read This first group of articles directly address the philosophy of the GNU project and free software: * What is Free Software? <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/free-sw.html> * Why Software Should Not Have Owners <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/why-free.html> * Selling Free Software Can Be Ok! <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/selling.html> * Categories of Free Software (18k characters) <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/categories.html> * Free software is more reliable! <http://www.fsf.org/software/reliability.html> * What is the Free Software Foundation? <http://www.fsf.org/fsf/fsf.html> * What is Copyleft? <http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/copyleft.html> <...> * History of the GNU Project <http://www.fsf.org/gnu/gnu-history.html> * The GNU Manifesto (31k characters) <http://www.fsf.org/gnu/manifesto.html> * Why there are no GIF files on GNU web pages <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/gif.html> This second group of articles deal with related topics but are not directly about the GNU project: * How to Protect the Right to Write Software (independent of whether it's free or not) <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/protecting.html> * Where the Copyright System and Government Plans are Leading Us <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html> * The Right Way to Tax DAT (22k characters) <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/dat.html> * Studies Find Reward Often No Motivator <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/motivation.html> * A speech that Richard Stallman gave in 1986 at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/stallman-kth.html> * How to Protect the Freedoms of Speech, Press, and Association on the Internet <http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/basic-freedoms.html> <...> --- # distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@desk.nl and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/ contact: nettime-owner@desk.nl