diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon-rms-tim.html')
| -rw-r--r-- | talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon-rms-tim.html | 127 |
1 files changed, 127 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon-rms-tim.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon-rms-tim.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55a4146 --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon-rms-tim.html @@ -0,0 +1,127 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 --> +<title>Amazon letter from RMS to Tim O'Reilly +- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/amazon-rms-tim.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> +<h2>Letter from RMS to Tim O'Reilly</h2> + +<p> +Here's a message that <a href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard +M. Stallman</a> sent to Tim O'Reilly on March 11, 2000, in regard to +the statement by Jeff Bezos, <abbr title="Chief Executive Officer">CEO</abbr> +of Amazon, which called for software patents to last just 3 or 5 years.</p> + +<p> +Please <a href="/philosophy/amazon.html">read more</a> about this boycott. +</p> + +<p> +Please also support us by making a link from your own home +page and sites to +<a href="/philosophy/amazon.html"><strong>http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/amazon.html</strong></a>! +</p> + +<pre> +The idea that software patents should last 3 or 5 years has been +proposed for a decade now, as a compromise that would eliminate most +of the harm that software patents now do. Support for this idea from +Jeff Bezos is a good thing, since it may bring us a step closer to +action by Congress. Congratulations for helping to bring this about. + +But such a law is far from imminent, and in the mean time, Amazon is +still responsible for its actions. + +We singled out Amazon for a boycott, among the thousands of companies +that have obtained software patents, because Amazon is among the few +that have gone so far as to actually sue someone. That makes them an +egregious offender. Most software patent holders say they have +software patents "for defensive purposes", to press for +cross-licensing in case they are threatened with patent lawsuits. +Since this is a real strategy for self-defense, many of these patent +holders could mean what they say. But this excuse is not available +for Amazon, because they fired the first shot. + +Bezos's letter reaffirms Amazon's continuing intention to engage in +unrestricted patent warfare, saying that the decision of when and +where to attack will be decided by "business reasons". I would gladly +join Bezos in supporting a bill to limit software patents to 3 or 5 +years, but I believe we must continue to criticize and boycott Amazon +until such a bill is actually adopted--or until Amazon makes some +other suitable change in its own conduct to justify a change in ours. + +This does not mean insisting that Amazon must go so far as to +terminate its own patents. Deterrence with patents is an inadequate +defense against aggressors armed with patents, but it is the only +defense, so I would not ask Amazon (or anyone) to refrain from using +patents for self-defense or for collective security. Rather, Amazon +and other software patent holders should abjure the use of patents for +aggression, and adopt a no-first-use policy. If Amazon does this, in +an irrevocable and binding way, I would have no further criticism of +Amazon. +</pre> + +</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> +<div id="footer"> +<div class="unprintable"> + +<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to +<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. +There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> +the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent +to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> + +<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, + replace it with the translation of these two: + + We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality + translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. + Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard + to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> + <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> + + <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of + our web pages, see <a + href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations + README</a>. --> +Please see the <a +href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations +README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations +of this article.</p> +</div> + +<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to + files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should + be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this + without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. + Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the + document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the + document was modified, or published. + + If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. + Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying + years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable + year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including + being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). + + There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers + Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> + +<p>Copyright © 1999, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p> + +<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" +href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative +Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p class="unprintable">Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2020/07/04 15:55:21 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> |