Verily I say unto thee, that JEDIDIAH spake thusly:
> On 2009-04-02, DFS <nospam@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> You'll buy whatever heavily-patented, IP-encumbered medicine
I never waste money on branded pharmaceuticals, when the generic
equivalents do exactly the same thing for a fraction of the price, and
with zero benefit to patent extortionists.
>> In fact, you'll quickly pay for any patented product you like
I don't buy "patents", I buy tangible goods. If manufacturers want to
capitulate to patent terrorists' demands, then that's their problem, but
I won't endorse it. I have no control over what /others/ do. In an
environment where /all/ the suppliers of a particular product or service
capitulate to patent terrorism, then I am subjected to the slavery of
that Intellectual Monopoly by default, and without recourse. That does
not make me a hypocrite, it makes me a victim, just like everyone else
affected by this slavery. Where there are alternatives, I use them, and
continuously endeavour to find those alternatives, until such times as
the tyranny of Intellectual Monopoly can be extinguished.
>> that provides you with ... convenience
You must have me confused with an archetypal Ubuntu user.
I don't care about convenience, I care about liberty.
>> And that includes proprietary software, and music CDs, etc.
Thirty years ago, I was unaware of Intellectual Property.
Twenty years ago, I was unaware of Free Software.
Ten years ago, I was unaware of the degree of corruption in the IT and
entertainment industries.
Things have changed.
Today, we have ACTA - one of the most sinister developments in the
history of modern society, along with the DMCA, software patents,
companies which have /no/ "products" other than patents (patent trolls),
Phorm, legally mandated Deep Packet Inspection (Internet wire-tapping
without a warrant), Microsoft - a global corporatist monopolist that is
run like a racketeering operation, the MPAA/RIAA - who intimidate and
stalk ten-year old girls for "royalties" (extortion money), and now the
PRS threatening a woman for playing 300 year-old symphony music to her
horses (they even threatened children for singing *Christmas carols*).
With the passage of time, as the cancer of Intellectual Monopolies has
spread and become more malignant, and my awareness of this disease has
become more acute, I have become more and more opposed to anything that
spreads this disease. I didn't always know what I know now, and the
problem was not always as severe as it is today.
In the past, I have bought proprietary software (and I'm using the word
"software" in its widest sense, meaning computer programs, music,
videos and literature). In some cases, I was not concerned by the
current level of inhibition of my liberties, since they were not
intolerably severe. In other cases, I was forced into accepting
proprietary software by others (e.g. OEMs) who offered no other choice.
With each passing day, my liberties are being threatened and destroyed
more and more, and my tolerance for that violation has now come to an end.
If the Intellectual Monopolists' intent was to "force compliance" with
their "IP" terrorism, then I'm afraid their sinister plans may have
seriously backfired, because my reaction (and that of many others) is
*not* to capitulate, but instead to *reject* their snake-oil and go
elsewhere, utilising software that is either out of copyright or Freely
licensed.
I *have* been a victim of Intellectual Monopolies in the past.
Never again.
> That has more to do with the PTO running amok than anything else.
They can go to Hell too.
--
K.
http://slated.org
.----
| "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It
| is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." ~ William
| Pitt the Younger
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Fedora release 8 (Werewolf) on sky, running kernel 2.6.25.11-60.fc8
20:16:35 up 148 days, 2:59, 4 users, load average: 0.12, 0.08, 0.09
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