Vanessa Sabino » freedom

Day Against DRM

Bani — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:43:47 +0000

Just this morning I was posting on Twitter about how I had to go through the hassle of contacting customer support of JoikuSpot to ask them to release the license code from my old phone, which was stolen, so that I could install the app on the new replacement phone. I sent the e-mail on Friday night but was only able to use the license this morning (Monday), since they didn’t work during the weekend.
This app is awesome, one of my favorites for the S60, the person from the customer support was very nice and, to be fair, they give a 2 day free trial period. But still, I don’t want to have to beg to random people to let me use the license I bought for their software.
And now I’ve just received and e-mail from the Free Software Foundation about the Day Against DRM, which is this Tuesday.
So, let’s take action and spread the word! Go to http://www.defectivebydesign.org/dayagainstdrm2010 and see how you can help.

Update: to celebrate the Day Against DRM I am buying the DRM free games at http://www.wolfire.com/humble and donating the money to the EFF.

Writing without copyright

Bani — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:59:36 +0000

In a recent article, Gennady Stolyarov II explains how writers can prosper without intellectual property.

The idea behind the copyright law is that authors need patrimonial rights over their creations in order to incentive their work. Some people argue that it wouldn’t be possible to earn a living and create art if it were not for the intellectual proterty laws.

Gennady Stolyarov II provides an historical perspective on how artists used to prosper before the copyright law and presents several ideas for the writers of tomorrow to make money even if the protection of their work cease to exist. The ideas range from a new way to negotiate with traditional publishers to patronage and online advertisements.

As the article ends, we are left to reflect upon the necessity of copyright:

It is never necessary to cling to a single legal mechanism or institution as the sole path for any given peaceful and productive human activity. Human beings are much more inventive and resilient than the defenders of copyright would suggest.

When Your Previous Thesis Interferes With Your Current Thesis

Bani — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:53:36 +0000

From: Ubersoft, under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License

Laws don't replace skill or talent

Bani — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:11:06 +0000

People believe the laws should reflect the interests of the society. They argue that copyright laws is important to incentive private parties to produce new content so that in the long term everyone will have access to a richer culture.
Maybe that was the original intent, but today it mostly serves to protect the distributor assets. Writers and musicians sell their rights to the publisher, who profit from the exclusive rights to distribute the content. Only a small percentage of the profit goes back to the artist in the form of royalties.
For the sake of the argument, let’s suppose the artist was able to earn his/her living only from the royalties received, which is not true for most cases. Is it fair that the single owner of the rights profit from it for such an extended time as 70 years after the author’s death, when other people could be creating more interesting stuff based on this work to entertain the rest of us?
Super protective laws will only incentive the mediocrity. We have to settle for “good enough”, when we could have access to great, improved versions of a work.

Stop Software Patents

Bani — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:40:48 +0000

EFF

Bani — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:38:38 +0000

Firefox

Bani — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 17:29:08 +0000

Software Freedom Day

Bani — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:26:00 +0000

This saturday, September 20th, is Softare Freedom Day!

World Day Against Software Patents

Bani — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:46:00 +0000

September 24th will be the World Day Against Software Patents.
Although the day celebrates an achievement that has been made at the European Parliament five years ago, there is still a lot to be done. Visit http://stopsoftwarepatents.org/ to learn what else can me accomplished and how you can help.

Poetic License

Bani — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:13:00 +0000

Found this license today. It is cute.

This work ‘as-is’ we provide.
No warranty express or implied.
We’ve done our best,
to debug and test.
Liability for damages denied.

Permission is granted hereby,
to copy, share, and modify.
Use as is fit,
free or for profit.
These rights, on this notice, rely.