I agree with your premise that copyright can be detrimental to broader interests, and the case of "obsolete but historically interesting" software is a prime case in point. However, copyright holders can choose to make things readily available without placing them in the public domain; the 'Ancient UNIX' license is a great example. If they choose not to do so, the law does allow them recourse. I doubt they would consume the resources to execute on that against individuals who are running old software for non-commercial purposes; I suspect that those who commit such indiscretions wholesale may not be treated with such latitude. And, IMHO, those who baldly advertise their general disdain of copyright law are pretty much asking for it. -- Ian My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent my employer's opinions. -----Original Message----- From: Mirian Crzig Lennox [mailto:mirian@cosmic.com] Sent: Thu 9/5/2002 4:56 PM To: tuhs(a)minnie.tuhs.org Cc: Subject: Re: [TUHS] Ultrix... On Wed, 4 Sep 2002 20:15:52 -0700, Ian King <iking(a)microsoft.com> wrote: It is possible to respect property rights and yet disagree (to the point of disobedience) with how the concept has been lately twisted by monied interests in the United States. The purpose of copyright is not to be a form of property; if it were, copyrights would not expire. The purpose of copyright is to enrich the public domain by encouraging authors to publish their works, by ensuring them exclusive right to profit from their work for a limited time after which time *the work passes into the public domain*. This is plainly stated in the U.S. Constitution as the basis for copyright law: "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." [Article I, section 8]. In fact, the concept of "intellectual property" is a fairly recent perversion, and the consequence has been a steady depletion of the public domain. When a piece of software (and Ultrix is an excellent example) is tied up in copyright long after it is of any value to anyone beyond pure academic interest, nothing is added to anyone's wealth, and society as a whole loses. --Mirian _______________________________________________ TUHS mailing list TUHS(a)minnie.tuhs.org http://minnie.tuhs.org/mailman/listinfo/tuhs