“During the past decade or so, the line between software artists
and publishers pretty much disappeared as the two groups fused into
one. The open source revolution has brought that distinction back
into focus recently, and now the line between artists and consumers
is blurring.”
“That revolution has highlighted the extent to which the
artificial monopolies of copyrights and patents can suppress
creative output as well as foster it. Aggressively enforced
copyrights and patents overstep their stated objectives of
stimulating artistic endeavor and become a socially harmful means
of control. The open source community is giving a loud and clear
signal to software publishers that the heyday of market dominance
through closed software and proprietary standards lock-in is
ending.”
“Intellectual property, however, isn’t going away yet — and
we probably shouldn’t be trying to kill it, either.“