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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70f904d --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/amazon.html @@ -0,0 +1,281 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.86 --> +<title>(Formerly) Boycott Amazon! - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/amazon.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> +<h2>(Formerly) Boycott Amazon!</h2> + +<div class="comment"> +<p> +The FSF decided to end its boycott of Amazon in September 2002. (We +forgot to edit this page at the time.) We could not tell the precise +result of the lawsuit against Barnes & Noble, but it did not seem to +be very harmful to the defendant. And Amazon had not attacked anyone +else.</p> +<p> +Amazon has got a number of other menacing patents since then, but has +not as yet used them for aggression. Perhaps it will not do so. If +it does, we will take a look at how to denounce it.</p> +<p> +The rest of this page is as it was in 2001 while the boycott +was active.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p> +If you support the boycott, +<br /> +<em>Please make links to this page</em> +<br /> +<strong>http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/amazon.html</strong> !!!! +</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<h3 id="whyBoycott">Why we boycott Amazon</h3> +<p> +Amazon has obtained a <a href="/philosophy/amazonpatent.html">US +patent (5,960,411)</a> on an important and obvious idea for +E-commerce: an idea sometimes known as one-click purchasing. The idea +is that your command in a web browser to buy a certain item can carry +along information about your identity. (It works by sending the +server a “cookie”, a kind of ID code that your browser +received previously from the same server.)</p> +<p> +Amazon has sued to block the use of this simple idea, showing that +they truly intend to monopolize it. This is an attack against the +World Wide Web and against E-commerce in general.</p> +<p> +The idea patented here is just that a company can give you something +which you can subsequently show them to identify yourself for credit. +This is nothing new: a physical credit card does the same job, after +all. But the US Patent Office issues patents on obvious and +well-known ideas every day. Sometimes the result is a disaster.</p> +<p> +Today Amazon is suing one large company. If this were just a dispute +between two companies, it would not be an important public issue. But +the patent gives Amazon the power over anyone who runs a web site in +the US (and any other countries that give them similar patents)—power +to control all use of this technique. Although only one company is +being sued today, the issue affects the whole Internet.</p> +<p> +Amazon is not alone at fault in what is happening. The US Patent +Office is to blame for having very low standards, and US courts are to +blame for endorsing them. And US patent law is to blame for +authorizing patents on information-manipulating techniques and +patterns of communication—a policy that is harmful in general.</p> + +<p> +Foolish government policies gave Amazon the opportunity—but an +opportunity is not an excuse. Amazon made the choice to obtain this +patent, and the choice to use it in court for aggression. The +ultimate moral responsibility for Amazon's actions lies with Amazon's +executives.</p> +<p> +We can hope that the court will find this patent is legally invalid. +Whether they do so will depend on detailed facts and obscure +technicalities. The patent uses piles of semi-relevant detail to make +this “invention” look like something subtle.</p> +<p> +But we do not have to wait passively for the court to decide the +freedom of E-commerce. There is something we can do right now: we can +refuse to do business with Amazon. Please do not buy anything from +Amazon until they promise to stop using this patent to threaten or +restrict other web sites.</p> +<p> +If you are the author of a book sold by Amazon, you can provide +powerful help to this campaign by putting this text into the +“author comment” about your book, on Amazon's web site. +(Alas, it appears they are refusing to post these comments for +authors.)</p> +<p> +If you have suggestions, or if you simply support the boycott, please +send mail to <a href="mailto:amazon@gnu.org"><amazon@gnu.org></a> +to let us know.</p> +<p> +Amazon's response to people who write about the patent contains a +subtle misdirection which is worth analyzing:</p> +<blockquote><p> + The patent system is designed to encourage innovation, and we spent + thousands of hours developing our 1-ClickR shopping feature. +</p></blockquote> +<p> +If they did spend thousands of hours, they surely did not spend it +thinking of the general technique that the patent covers. So if they +are telling the truth, what did they spend those hours doing?</p> +<p> +Perhaps they spent some of the time writing the patent application. +That task was surely harder than thinking of the technique. Or +perhaps they are talking about the time it took designing, writing, +testing, and perfecting the scripts and the web pages to handle +one-click shopping. That was surely a substantial job. Looking +carefully at their words, it seems the “thousands of hours +developing” could include either of these two jobs.</p> +<p> +But the issue here is not about the details in their particular +scripts (which they do not release to us) and web pages (which are +copyrighted anyway). The issue here is the general idea, and whether +Amazon should have a monopoly on that idea.</p> +<p> +Are you, or I, free to spend the necessary hours writing our own +scripts, our own web pages, to provide one-click shopping? Even if we +are selling something other than books, are we free to do this? That +is the question. Amazon seeks to deny us that freedom, with the eager +help of a misguided US government.</p> +<p> +When Amazon sends out cleverly misleading statements like the one +quoted above, it demonstrates something important: they do care what +the public thinks of their actions. They must care—they are a +retailer. Public disgust can affect their profits.</p> +<p> +People have pointed out that the problem of software patents is much +bigger than Amazon, that other companies might have acted just the +same, and that boycotting Amazon won't directly change patent law. Of +course, these are all true. But that is no argument against this +boycott!</p> +<p> +If we mount the boycott strongly and lastingly, Amazon may eventually +make a concession to end it. And even if they do not, the next +company which has an outrageous software patent and considers suing +someone will realize there can be a price to pay. They may have +second thoughts.</p> +<p> +The boycott can also indirectly help change patent law—by calling +attention to the issue and spreading demand for change. And it is so +easy to participate that there is no need to be deterred on that +account. If you agree about the issue, why <em>not</em> boycott +Amazon?</p> +<p> +To help spread the word, please put a note about the boycott on your +own personal web page, and on institutional pages as well if you can. +Make a link to this page; updated information will be placed here.</p> + +<h3 id="whyContinue">Why the Boycott Continues Given that the Suit has +Settled</h3> + +<p> +Amazon.com reported in March 2002 that it had settled its long-running +patent-infringement suit against Barnes & Noble over its 1-Click +checkout system. The details of the settlement were not disclosed.</p> + +<p> +Since the terms were not disclosed, we have no way of knowing whether this +represents a defeat for Amazon such as would justify ending the boycott. +Thus, we encourage everyone to continue the boycott.</p> + +<h3 id="Updates">Updates and Links</h3> + +<p> +In this section, we list updates and links about issues related to +Amazon.com, their business practices, and stories related to the boycott. +New information is added to the bottom of this section.</p> + +<p> +Tim O'Reilly has sent Amazon an +<a href="http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/ask_tim/2000/amazon_patent.html">open +letter</a> +disapproving of the use of this patent, +stating the position about as forcefully as possible given an +unwillingness to stop doing business with them.</p> + +<p> +<a href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard M. Stallman</a> has written a +<a href="/philosophy/amazon-rms-tim.html">letter to Tim O'Reilly</a> +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> +Paul Barton-Davis +<a href="mailto:pbd@op.net"><pbd@op.net></a>, +one of the founding programmers +at Amazon, <a href="http://www.equalarea.com/paul/amazon-1click.html">writes</a> +about the Amazon Boycott.</p> + +<p> +Nat Friedman wrote in with an +<a href="/philosophy/amazon-nat.html">Amazon Boycott success story</a>.</p> + +<p> +On the side, Amazon is doing +<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140610154715/http://www.salon.com/1999/10/28/amazon_3/">other +obnoxious things</a> in another courtroom, too.</p> + +<p> +See <a +href="http://endsoftpatents.org">http://endsoftpatents.org</a> for +more information about the broader issue of +<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150329143651/http://progfree.org/Patents/patents.html"> +software patents</a>.</p> + +<p> +<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20010430183216/http://www.cpsr.org/links/bookstore/"> +Computer Professionals for +Social Responsibility have dropped their affiliation with Amazon</a>.</p> + +</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, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 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: 2020/07/01 15:25:23 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> +</body> +</html> |