4-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility

4-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility

       Copyrights exist in order to protect the creator of software they have created from unauthorized copying or selling of their work. A copyright holds laws behind it, that state only with the creator's permission does this allow someone to make a profit from it.A Copyleft provides a method that allows a creator to distribute software with the ability to change or recreate the source software for everyone and remain free.

        People are fighting for the right to allow people to have access to the source code one might make a product better adapted to one's personal needs and then have the ability to distribute it to friends and family to aid in their lives as well. One such group is called the GNU Project which was launched in 1984 and they are working on a new system called GNU/Linux that will aid in the development of the idea of free software.

        While the other side is made up of anyone making millions from copyright laws by allowing sub-standard products such as video games or software to hit the market and with laws backing them up they keep people from modifying it because we live in a world where this makes millions for companies.

        My view point on the world as it is, its horrible because people could find better uses for software that is just being used to make sub-standard products so they can sell add-ons or upgrades. It would be a better world if we could get rid of copyright laws as there was a movie called "Who killed the electric car?" 

and in it they show how big business can ruin things through patent laws, so who knows what little wonders could be found with the aid of free software.

        The advantages of copyright laws are like when someone is making some new software the law protects you from the theft of it allowing you to profit from your work. 

        The disadvantages our the crappy software that could be fixed by programmers without the upgrades coming from the companies who sold them to you. 

Works Cited 

"Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code" Copyright: United States Copyright Office www.copyright.gov 

"What is GNU?" GNU Operating System  www.gnu.org

Stallman, Richard    stallman.org