RMS Responds To NPR File-Sharer's Blog 634
New submitter UtucXul points out that Richard Stallman has penned a lengthy response to NPR intern Emily White for her post on the organization's site about how she failed to pay for a significant amount of recorded music, acquiring it instead through Kazaa, friends, and CDs owned by the radio station at which she was employed. (We previously discussed musician David Lowery's response; quite different from RMS's, as you might expect.) Stallman wrote,
"Copying and sharing recordings was not a mistake, let alone wrong, because sharing is good. It's good to share musical recordings with friends and family; it's good for a radio station to share recordings with the staff, and it's good when strangers share through peer-to-peer networks. The wrong is in the repressive laws that try to block or punish sharing. Sharing ought to be legalized; in the mean time, please do not act ashamed of having shared — that would validate those repressive laws that claim that it is wrong. You did make a mistake when you chose Kazaa as the method of sharing. Kazaa mistreated you (and all its users) by requiring you to run a non-free program on your computer. ... However, that was in the past. It's more important to consider what you're doing now, which includes other mistakes. You're not alone — many others make them too, and that adds up to a big problem for society. The root mistake is treating a marketing buzzword, 'the cloud,' as if it meant something concrete. That term refers to so many things (different ways of using the Internet) that it really has no meaning at all. Marketing uses that term to lead people's attention away from the important questions about any given use of the network, such as, 'What companies would I depend on if I did this, and how? What trouble could they cause me, if they wanted to shaft me, or simply thought that a change in policies would gain them more money?'"
RMS thinks giving other people's shit away is good (Score:2, Funny)
film at 11
Re:RMS supports file sharing???? (Score:3, Funny)
A parallel world would be one in which RMS advises on how to monetize on those gains.
RMS writes, "You did make a mistake when you chose Kazaa as the method of sharing. Instead, you should have created a web site using the cloud to sale your collection."
The next 10 or so lines would be quoting Ferengi rules of acquisition. Probably some good points like exploiting family and friends for more music.
Good guys wear white. (Score:4, Funny)
Hmmm, a black and white opinion in a world of gray. How refreshing.
Re:RMS thinks giving other people's shit away is g (Score:5, Funny)
Wait, did you just accuse the person to whom you were responding of being an African dictator?
I admire RMS (Score:4, Funny)
Every time RMS speaks, it's like he's expressing the way my soul feels.
It's like a beautiful piece of classical music, it just resonates with the way I feel.
Don't ever stop RMS.
Re:RMS thinks giving other people's shit away is g (Score:4, Funny)
I think what RMS is saying is that all music should be distributed with a license disclosing what can and can not be done with it. It would only add 20-25 minutes to each song to read out the music distribution license that would be required on every song.
The Gnu Public Music license would require that it be copied along with the song, and that any derivative work distributed to anyone also bear the 25 minute GPM license. Also, all the tracks required to remix the music must be made available to anyone the song is distributed to. Any remixes distributed must also bear the GPM license. And no patented technologies can be used to make the music.