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+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 -->
+<title>Freedom Or Power?
+- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+<meta http-equiv="Keywords" content="GNU, FSF, Free Software Foundation, Linux, general, public, license, gpl, general public license, freedom, software, power, rights" />
+<meta http-equiv="Description" content="In this essay, Freedom or Power?, Bradley M. Kuhn and Richard M. Stallman discuss the reasons that the free software movement doesn't advocate the so-called freedom to choose any license you want for software you write." />
+<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/freedom-or-power.translist" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>Freedom or Power?</h2>
+
+<p>
+by <strong>Bradley M. Kuhn</strong> and <strong>Richard
+M. Stallman</strong></p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the
+love of ourselves.<br />
+-- William Hazlitt</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>
+In the free software movement, we stand for freedom for the users of
+software. We formulated our views by looking at what freedoms are
+necessary for a good way of life, and permit useful programs to foster a
+community of goodwill, cooperation, and collaboration. <a
+href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">Our criteria for free software</a> specify
+the freedoms that a program's users need so that they can cooperate in a
+community.</p>
+
+<p>
+We stand for freedom for programmers as well as for other users.
+Most of us are programmers, and we want freedom for ourselves as well
+as for you. But each of us uses software written by others, and we
+want freedom when using that software, not just when using our own
+code. We stand for freedom for all users, whether they program often,
+occasionally, or not at all.</p>
+
+<p>
+However, one so-called freedom that we do not advocate is the
+&ldquo;freedom to choose any license you want for software you
+write.&rdquo; We reject this because it is really a form of power,
+not a freedom.</p>
+
+<p>
+This oft overlooked distinction is crucial. Freedom is being able to make
+decisions that affect mainly you; power is being able to make decisions
+that affect others more than you. If we confuse power with freedom, we
+will fail to uphold real freedom.</p>
+
+<p>
+Making a program proprietary is an exercise of power. Copyright law
+today grants software developers that power, so they and only they
+choose the rules to impose on everyone else&mdash;a relatively small
+number of people make the basic software decisions for all users,
+typically by denying their freedom. When users lack the
+freedoms that define free software, they can't tell what the
+software is doing, can't check for back doors, can't monitor possible
+viruses and worms, can't find out what personal information is being
+reported (or stop the reports, even if they do find out). If it breaks,
+they can't fix it; they have to wait for the developer to exercise its
+power to do so. If it simply isn't quite what they need, they are stuck
+with it. They can't help each other improve it.</p>
+
+<p>
+Proprietary software developers are often businesses. We in the free
+software movement are not opposed to business, but we have seen what
+happens when a software business has the &ldquo;freedom&rdquo; to
+impose arbitrary rules on the users of software. Microsoft is an
+egregious example of how denying users' freedoms can lead to direct
+harm, but it is not the only example. Even when there is no monopoly,
+proprietary software harms society. A choice of masters is not
+freedom.</p>
+
+<p>
+Discussions of rights and rules for software have often concentrated
+on the interests of programmers alone. Few people in the world
+program regularly, and fewer still are owners of proprietary software
+businesses. But the entire developed world now needs and uses
+software, so software developers now control the way it lives,
+does business, communicates, and is entertained. The ethical and
+political issues are not addressed by the slogan of &ldquo;freedom of
+choice (for developers only).&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>
+If &ldquo;code is law,&rdquo; <a href="#f1">(1)</a> then the real question we face is: who should control the
+code you use&mdash;you, or an elite few? We believe you are entitled
+to control the software you use, and giving you that control is the
+goal of free software.</p>
+
+<p>
+We believe you should decide what to do with the software you use;
+however, that is not what today's law says. Current copyright law places
+us in the position of power over users of our code, whether we like it or
+not. The ethical response to this situation is to proclaim freedom for
+each user, just as the Bill of Rights was supposed to exercise government
+power by guaranteeing each citizen's freedoms. That is what the <a
+href="/copyleft/copyleft.html">GNU General Public License</a> is for:
+it puts you in control of your usage of the software while <a
+href="/philosophy/why-copyleft.html">protecting you from others</a> who would
+like to take control of your decisions.</p>
+
+<p>
+As more and more users realize that code is law, and come to feel that
+they too deserve freedom, they will see the importance of the freedoms
+we stand for, just as more and more users have come to appreciate the
+practical value of the free software we have developed.</p>
+
+<h4>Footnotes</h4>
+
+<a id="f1"></a> William J. Mitchell,
+<em>City of Bits: Space, Place, and the Infobahn </em> (Cambridge,
+Mass.: MIT Press, 1995), p. 111, as quoted by Lawrence Lessig in
+<em>Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, Version 2.0</em> (New York, NY:
+Basic Books, 2006), p. 5.
+
+<hr />
+<blockquote id="fsfs"><p class="big">This essay is published
+in <a href="http://shop.fsf.org/product/free-software-free-society/"><cite>Free
+Software, Free Society: The Selected Essays of Richard
+M. Stallman</cite></a>.</p></blockquote>
+
+</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 &amp; GNU inquiries to <a
+href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</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">&lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</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">
+ &lt;web-translators@gnu.org&gt;</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>
+
+<p>Copyright &copy; 2001, 2009 Bradley M. Kuhn and Richard M. Stallman</p>
+
+<p>Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted
+without royalty in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.</p>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
+
+<p class="unprintable">Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2014/04/12 12:40:06 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>