Re: Java and avoiding software piracy?
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 06:37:29 +0000, Twisted wrote:
And how, precisely, does writing laws to create and protect the monopoly
privileges of the corporation by limiting the rights of the individual
in their computing hardware and in their copies of books, software, and
various other things support EITHER the rights of the individual OR the
benefit of society, pray tell?
What laws? The only laws in this area are copyright laws and patents,
both of which have several good reasons for existence, except for a few
laws that tend to be *opening* permissions. For example, the pertinent EU
law expressly lists minimal cases in which software can be reverse
engineered. If you've ever bothered to read the licensing agreements,
several of the clauses contain "to the extent permissible by law," a sign
clearly indicative of laws limiting what companies can limit. Of course,
I'm not an expert lawyer, so I might be wrong in parts.
In short: there are more laws (including common law, cf the Betamax
decision) that expand the guaranteed individual rights than permit the
limiting.