[ Thanks to Danny Yee for this link.
]
“Brian Martin presents the case against intellectual
property, approaching the issue from a different background to most
of us in the free software movement. (You’ll note that Martin
confuses “freeware”, “free software”, and “public domain”, but
that’s my fault, since I should have picked this up in my
proofreading.)”
“There is a strong case for opposing intellectual property.
Among other things, it often retards innovation and exploits Third
World peoples. Most of the usual arguments for intellectual
property do not hold up under scrutiny. In particular, the metaphor
of the marketplace of ideas provides no justification for ownership
of ideas. The alternative to intellectual property is that
intellectual products not be owned, as in the case of everyday
language. Strategies against intellectual property include civil
disobedience, promotion of non-owned information, and fostering of
a more cooperative society.”
“The original rationale for copyrights and patents was to foster
artistic and practical creative work by giving a short-term
monopoly over certain uses of the work. This monopoly was granted
to an individual or corporation by government. The government’s
power to grant a monopoly is corrupting. The biggest owners of
intellectual property have sought to expand it well beyond any
sensible rationale.”