The lecture today focused on the idea of Creative Commons. It covered three bases which included community, collaboration and choice. There was a very interesting video by the creators of creative commons describing the process. In a nutshell they go on to say that creators have the rights to various options when it comes to their work. I think its a great way to go about it. It will solve many legal issues and give people peace of mind and a better understanding of the whole system.
We also touched on the commercialisation of software. Early on it was a shared resource where computer groups could share and improve programs for the general computer minded community. Which was kept alive by men like Stallman and Linus who allowed users to freely download their software and make it better for computer users. A very noble group they were, especially in this dog eat dog world of commercialisation and big business. Inevitably it was companies like Microsoft & Apple that started charging people for their software and restricting user rights and possible improvements with an emphasis on protecting their "intellectual property." Their quest for world domination and to make as many billions of dollars was dreamt up and conquered. I must say you cant blame the likes of Bill Gates and Steven Jobs for seeing the mass market opportunities. Yes they have brought about a stop to free community software sharing restricting creativity and improvements from outside sources, but at the same time who amongst us in their position would have not followed that same path. Ide like to think I would take the Stallman stand but seeing Bill Gates paycheck come in the mail each week, I cant say I wouldnt do any different. I guess the personal dilemma here is SELFLESSNESS FOR THE CAUSE vs GREED.
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