Star Free Can Mean Big Money: The Open Source Economy
Linked by David Adams on Mon 16th Aug 2004 17:44 UTC
Editorial I read something in one of the comments for an OSNews posting a couple weeks ago that sent me thinking. It wasn't an original or profound thought. In fact, it's a rather commonly-held opinion that happens to be quite misguided. It's an opinion summed up by the "open source = communist" meme that gets thrown around in thousands of flamewars all over the internet. In this essay, I will explore why this idea is wrong and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of economics.
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RE: Re: Sematics
by Bill Sykes on Mon 16th Aug 2004 23:46 UTC

"The problem is that he was reffering to information and ideas. Intangables that can be shared without loss and to which you cannot apply the principals and morals of material goods.

Besides, the author has chosen to share his code. How dare you presume to deny him his intellectual property rights!"

First off Mr. Adams used the word enforce in relation to sharing. That doesn't sound like choice to me.

Secondly an idea is very tangible if it wasn't poeple wouldn't pay for it. A block of wood with out an idea is a stick. With an idea it can become a piece of valued art or a custom peice of furniture. If that peice of furniture is unique enough in function then the design (idea) can be patented.

In the world today the new wood is 0 and 1's, bits and bytes with out ideas software is just ether.

Since material goods are of finite quantities on this planet, I would think that people who are truly for the common man would be all for the protection of ideas through intellectual property rights since this is about the easiest and fastest way for a common man to empower himself.

Of course some one should be able to share his idea with the world for what ever value he chooses to place on it. But sharing and enforce are two words that just shouldn't be used together.