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www/philosophy ebooks.html
|
From: |
Yavor Doganov |
|
Subject: |
www/philosophy ebooks.html |
|
Date: |
Sat, 07 Apr 2007 08:22:07 +0000 |
CVSROOT: /web/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Yavor Doganov <yavor> 07/04/07 08:22:07
Modified files:
philosophy : ebooks.html
Log message:
Templated.
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/ebooks.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.7&r2=1.8
Patches:
Index: ebooks.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/ebooks.html,v
retrieving revision 1.7
retrieving revision 1.8
diff -u -b -r1.7 -r1.8
--- ebooks.html 19 Mar 2007 16:46:03 -0000 1.7
+++ ebooks.html 7 Apr 2007 08:21:50 -0000 1.8
@@ -1,56 +1,43 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
- "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd";>
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"; xml:lang="en" lang="en">
-<head>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
<title>E-Books: Freedom Or Copyright - RMS</title>
-<meta http-equiv="content-type" content=
-'text/html; charset=utf-8' />
-<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/gnu.css" />
-<link rev="made" href="mailto:address@hidden"; />
-</head>
-<!-- This document is in XML, and xhtml 1.0 -->
-<!-- Please make sure to properly nest your tags -->
-<!-- and ensure that your final document validates -->
-<!-- consistent with W3C xhtml 1.0 and CSS standards -->
-<!-- See validator.w3.org -->
-<body>
-<p><a href="#translations">Translations</a> of this page</p>
-<h3>E-Books: Freedom Or Copyright</h3>
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>E-Books: Freedom Or Copyright</h2>
+
<p>by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/";><strong>Richard
Stallman</strong></a></p>
-<p><a href="/graphics/philosophicalgnu.html"><img src=
-"/graphics/philosophical-gnu-sm.jpg" alt=
-" [image of a Philosophical Gnu] " width="160" height=
-"200" /></a></p>
+
<blockquote>
<p><em>(This is a slightly modified version of an article published
in Technology Review in 2000.)</em></p>
</blockquote>
-<p>Once upon a time, in the age of the printing press, an
-industrial regulation was established to cover the business of
-writing and publishing. It was called copyright. Copyright's
-purpose, stated in the US Constitution, was to "promote
-progress"--that is, to encourage publication. The method used was
-to make publishers get permission from authors for using recent
-works.</p>
-<p>Ordinary readers had little reason to disapprove, since
-copyright restricted only publication, not the things a reader
-could do. If it raised the price of a book a small amount, that was
-only money; it did not contort readers' way of life. Copyright
-provided a public benefit, as intended, with little burden on the
-public. It did its job well--back then.</p>
+
+<p>Once upon a time, in the age of the printing press, an industrial
+regulation was established to cover the business of writing and
+publishing. It was called copyright. Copyright's purpose, stated in
+the US Constitution, was to “promote progress”—that
+is, to encourage publication. The method used was to make publishers
+get permission from authors for using recent works.</p>
+
+<p>Ordinary readers had little reason to disapprove, since copyright
+restricted only publication, not the things a reader could do. If it
+raised the price of a book a small amount, that was only money; it did
+not contort readers' way of life. Copyright provided a public benefit,
+as intended, with little burden on the public. It did its job
+well—back then.</p>
+
<p>Then a new way of distributing information came about: computers
and networks. The advantage of digital information technology is
that it facilitates copying and manipulating information, including
software, musical recordings and books. Networks offered the
possibility of unlimited access to all sorts of data, an
information utopia.</p>
+
<p>But one obstacle stood in the way: copyright. Readers who took
made use of their computers to share published information were
technically copyright infringers. The world had changed around this
law, so that what was once an industrial regulation on publishers
had become a restriction on the public it was meant to serve.</p>
+
<p>In a system of real democracy, a law that prohibits a popular,
natural and useful activity is usually soon relaxed. But the
powerful publishers' lobby was determined to prevent the public
@@ -59,6 +46,7 @@
relaxing copyright to suit the new circumstances, governments made
it stricter than ever, imposing harsh penalties on readers caught
sharing.</p>
+
<p>But that wasn't the last of it. Computers can be powerful tools
of domination, when a few people control what other people's
computers do. The publishers realized that by forcing people to use
@@ -66,101 +54,120 @@
unprecedented power: they can compel readers to pay, and identify
themselves, every time they read a book! That is the publishers'
dream.</p>
+
<p>So they prevailed upon the US government to give them the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, a law giving them total
legal power over almost anything a reader might do with an e-book.
Even reading it without authorization is a crime.</p>
+
<p>We still have the same old freedoms in using paper books. But if
e-books replace printed books, that exception will do little good.
-With "electronic ink", which makes it possible to download new text
-onto an apparently printed piece of paper, even newspapers could
-become ephemeral. Imagine: no more used book stores; no more
-lending a book to your friend; no more borrowing one from the
-public library--no more "leaks" that might give someone a chance to
-read without paying. And judging from the ads for Microsoft Reader,
-no more anonymous purchasing of books. This is the world publishers
-have in mind for us.</p>
-<p>Why is there so little public debate about these momentous
-changes? Most citizens have not yet had occasion to come to grips
-with the political issues raised by this futuristic technology.
-Besides, the public has been taught that copyright exists to
-"protect" the copyright holders, with the implication that the
-public's interests do not count.</p>
+With “electronic ink”, which makes it possible to download
+new text onto an apparently printed piece of paper, even newspapers
+could become ephemeral. Imagine: no more used book stores; no more
+lending a book to your friend; no more borrowing one from the public
+library—no more “leaks” that might give someone a
+chance to read without paying. And judging from the ads for Microsoft
+Reader, no more anonymous purchasing of books. This is the world
+publishers have in mind for us.</p>
+
+<p>Why is there so little public debate about these momentous changes?
+Most citizens have not yet had occasion to come to grips with the
+political issues raised by this futuristic technology. Besides, the
+public has been taught that copyright exists to “protect”
+the copyright holders, with the implication that the public's
+interests do not count.</p>
+
<p>But when the public at large begins to use e-books, and
discovers the regime that the publishers have prepared for them,
they will begin to resist. Humanity will not accept this yoke
forever.</p>
+
<p>The publishers would have us believe that suppressive copyright
is the only way to keep art alive, but we do not need a War on
Copying to encourage a diversity of published works; as the
Grateful Dead showed, copying among fans is not a problem for the
artists. By legalizing the noncommercial copying of e-books, we can
turn copyright back into the industrial regulation it once was.</p>
+
<p>For some kinds of writing, we should go even further. For
scholarly papers and monographs, everyone should be encouraged to
republish them verbatim on line; this helps protect the scholarly
record while making it more accessible. For textbooks and most
reference works, publication of modified versions should be allowed
as well, since that encourages society to improve them.</p>
+
<p>Eventually, when computer networks provide an easy way to send
-someone a small amount of money, the whole rationale for
-restricting verbatim copying will go away. If you like a book, and
-it pops up a box saying "Click here to give the author one dollar",
+someone a small amount of money, the whole rationale for restricting
+verbatim copying will go away. If you like a book, and it pops up a
+box saying “Click here to give the author one dollar”,
wouldn't you click? Copyright for books and music, as it applies to
distributing verbatim unmodified copies, will be entirely obsolete.
And not a moment too soon!</p>
-<hr />
-<h4><a href="/philosophy/philosophy.html">Other Texts to
-Read</a></h4>
-<hr />
-<!-- All pages on the GNU web server should have the section about -->
-<!-- verbatim copying. Please do NOT remove this without talking -->
-<!-- with the webmasters first. -->
-<!-- Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the document -->
-<!-- and that it is like this "2001, 2002" not this "2001-2002." -->
-<div class="translations">
-<p><a id="translations" name="translations"></a> <b>Translations of
-this page</b>:<br />
-<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical, and in the original -->
-<!-- language if possible, otherwise default to English -->
-<!-- If you do not have it English, please comment what the -->
-<!-- English is. If you add a new language here, please -->
-<!-- advise address@hidden and add it to -->
-<!-- - in /home/www/bin/nightly-vars either TAGSLANG or WEBLANG -->
-<!-- - in /home/www/html/server/standards/README.translations.html -->
-<!-- one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway" -->
-<!-- - if there is a translation team, you also have to add an alias -->
-<!-- to mail.gnu.org:/com/mailer/aliases -->
-<!-- Please also check you have the 2 letter language code right versus -->
-<!-- http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm -->
- [ <a href="/philosophy/ebooks.html">English</a> | <a href=
-"/philosophy/ebooks.es.html">Español</a> <!-- Spanish -->
-| <a href="/philosophy/ebooks.fr.html">Français</a>
-<!-- French -->
-| <a href="/philosophy/ebooks.pl.html">Polski</a> <!-- Polish -->
-]</p>
+
</div>
-<div class="copyright">
-<p>Return to the <a href="/home.html">GNU Project home
-page</a>.</p>
-<p>Please send FSF & GNU inquiries to <a href=
-"mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>. There are also
-<a href="/home.html#ContactInfo">other ways to contact</a> the
-FSF.<br />
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+
+<p>
+Please send FSF & GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF.
+<br />
Please send broken links and other corrections (or suggestions) to
-<a href=
-"mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.</p>
-<p>Please see the <a href=
-"/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+<a href="mailto:address@hidden";><em>address@hidden</em></a>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Please see the
+<a href="/server/standards/README.translations">Translations
README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting
-translations of this article.</p>
-<p>Copyright 2000 Richard Stallman<br />
+translations of this article.
+</p>
+
+<p>Copyright © 2000 Richard Stallman
+<br />
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are
permitted in any medium, provided the copyright notice and this
notice are preserved.</p>
-<p>Updated: <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2007/03/19 16:46:03 $ $Author: jocke $
-<!-- timestamp end --></p>
+
+<p>
+Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2007/04/07 08:21:50 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<div id="translations">
+<h3>Translations of this page:</h3>
+
+<!-- Please keep this list alphabetical. -->
+<!-- Comment what the language is for each type, i.e. de is Deutsch.-->
+<!-- If you add a new language here, please -->
+<!-- advise address@hidden and add it to -->
+<!-- - /home/www/bin/nightly-vars either TAGSLANG or WEBLANG -->
+<!-- - /home/www/html/server/standards/README.translations.html -->
+<!-- - one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway" -->
+<!-- - if there is a translation team, you also have to add an alias -->
+<!-- to mail.gnu.org:/com/mailer/aliases -->
+<!-- Please also check you have the 2 letter language code right versus -->
+<!-- <URL:http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm> -->
+<!-- Please use W3C normative character entities -->
+
+<ul class="translations-list">
+<!-- English -->
+<li><a href="/philosophy/ebooks.html">English</a> [en]</li>
+<!-- Spanish -->
+<li><a href="/philosophy/ebooks.es.html">Español</a> [es]</li>
+<!-- French -->
+<li><a href="/philosophy/ebooks.fr.html">Français</a> [fr]</li>
+<!-- Polish -->
+<li><a href="/philosophy/ebooks.pl.html">Polski</a> [pl]</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>
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