On Mon, Feb 20, 2006 at 05:41:05PM -0500, Rob wrote: > They have the legal right, thanks to a century of lobbying by > people who had too much money to begin with, but the idea that > they have the moral right is purely your opinion. Despite > making my living writing and oftentimes selling software, I > don't share that opinion. The moral part results from your accepting the terms of the license, which is a contract between you and the creator of the software you buy. In this contract you usually agree not to harm the commercial interest of the creator by distributing his work to people who do not pay him/her for it. By defaulting on a contract or not keeping your promises by your own choice you demonstrate your lack of respect for the other party, and as a result you won't get much in return. And since the society we live in depends to a large extent on contracts being honored and promises being kept rather than on the the use of physical force, chances are you will be punished for that sort of behavior. A lot of things - software, literature, music,... have a value that is not encapsulated in their physical form. It's one of the features of a phenomenon called 'culture', or 'civilisation'. Failing to acknowledge this is as stupid as postulating that humans can't think or feel - it is materialism in its most primitive and ugly form. -- FA
