[ Thanks to steve
hill for this link. ]
“There seems to be no respite from the predations of
Microsoft FUD and the machinations of Big Business. Just when it
seemed safe to come out of the closet and admit to being a user of
free and open source software without being accused of being a
Communist, it appears that we are now criminals too—even if
we are not using pirated versions of proprietary software. The
culprit this time is something called “Special 301”, an
annual review of the status of foreign intellectual property laws
carried out under the auspices of the Office of the US Trade
Representative (USTR) which is an Executive Office of the
President. It’s definition of criminal would make criminals
of every single user of FOSS.“Special 301 is not a specific attack on individuals users of
GNU/Linux. It’s target is foreign governments with less
restrictive copyright laws than the United States. You can bet your
bottom dollar that it wouldn’t stop there. Private
individuals would be next. Now, I have an unscientific notion that
many FOSS users are of a liberal, not to say leftwing bent.
I’m somewhat atypical here: anyone who knows me would
probably describe me as being somewhere to the right of Atilla the
Hun. So, being described as some pinko subversive causes me to
smile — a knowing smile. I can live with that.”