Surf these sites: A Mickey Mouse Copyright Law? -- An examination of the impact of the Copyright Term Extension Act, from Wired Magazine. A Politics Of Intellectual Property: Environmentalism for the Net? by James Boyle -- A ridiculously wordy (it''s by a lawyer AND academic, worst of both worlds) but well thought out article asserting that intellectual property laws need to be reduced, and that this should be accomplished by political machination much like the environmental movement uses. A Primer On the Ethics of "Intellectual Property" -- This primer provides a general framework for freeing any information covered under copyright and patent laws. Against Intellectual Property -- A page comprised primarily of links to information freedom sites, including books, music, and software, from an Anarchy Home Page. Alliance Against Counterfeiting & Piracy -- cross-industry alliance campaigning to strengthen UK laws on counterfeiting, piracy, and intellectual property theft Brian Martin: Against intellectual property -- An Australian university gives a powerful case against "intellectual property" laws. Includes a long bibliography of books supporting the point. Christians and the Copyright Laws -- The problems with copyright laws, from a Christian perspective. Copyleft -- Shirts, hats, ties, stickers, and other cool stuff supporting free software. Geek chic! Copyright Protection Is for Dinosaurs -- fortune.com columnist Stewart Alsop explains why patents, copyrights, and trademarks are outdated and worse than useless. Intellectual Monopoly Laws versus Real Private Property -- A web site where the author states that intellectual monopoly laws, including copyrights and patents, hurt everyone, including authors and software producers. Intellectual Property Issues -- An impressive list of links to articles concerning intellectual "property" issues, from all sides. Intellectual Property Myths -- This document clears up some myths about intellectual property, including copyrights and patents. John Barlow''s Arguments against Intellectual Property Laws -- John Barlow, founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading internet freedom organization, explains why intellectual monopolies (copyrights and patents) do more harm than good. Mid-Atlantic Infoshop - Against Intellectual Property -- A page critical of copyrights, trademarks, and intellectual property. Moral Rights of Authors in USA -- Moral rights are a part of French law, which is not recognized in the USA. Essay by Dr. Standler, an attorney in Massachusetts. Negativland - Fair Use -- An essay exploring whether artists, for profit or not, have the right to freely "sample" from an already "created" electronic environment that surrounds them for use in their own work. Proposal for a Free Unix -- A proposal from 1993 for a free unix. Roundtable - 98.09 -- An Atlantic Unbound roundtable on the future of intellectual property and copyright law in the digital age The Cathedral and the Bazaar -- Eric Raymond of RedHat compares the central control of software development by a few (like a cathedral) to software development by many (like a bazaar). He talks about how bazaar development has worked for Linux and his own Fetchmail. The GNU Manifesto -- The last name in software freedom...this outlines the reasons that "Gnu''s Not Unix" produces free software. The Libertarian Case Against Intellectual "Property" Laws -- Libertarians believe in property rights more than anyone else does. But perhaps they shouldn''t believe in patents and copyrights... The Right to Read -- Richard Stallman''s famous parable about the Right to Read, and what will happen if intellectual monopoly laws continue to grow. The Viral Communications Anti-Copyright Policy -- "If creativity is a field, copyright is the fence." -- John Oswald -- VirComm agrees with him, gives a few reasons and a list of similar sites. Weaving Webs of Ownership -- An impressive dissertation (still in the works) on intellectual property laws Who Are the Real Software Pirates? -- What is the real piracy, the little guy who copies software or music he can''t afford, or the robber baron software and music companies who want to maintain their intellectual monopolies, and pass on as little back to the artists and programmers as they can manage?
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