Some thoughts on the 'western system' of Copyright, TradeMarks and Patents. OpenSource is great, but still several things seem to be flawed to make it work. The capitalist system still provides TradeMark Patent and Copyright systems. But thats more like a mafia , let me explain... When, for instance, you build an OpenSource 3D printer and it proves to be a rather good one. Then people copy the design build, improve etc. For non commercial use thats all good. Though there are also others who bluntly capitalise on other peoples work without any respect and even use the same 'brand name' to trick customers to buy into their rip-off. Copyright and Trademark laws say they protect you once you have registered. But thats essentially what a mafia does. You are charged with a very high registration fee as 'Protection Money' In this area OpenSource has less protection then. For instance a GPL software license. The philosoply behind GPL has much more to say for itself. Now I'm rather confused about the whole OpenSource thing. When comparing OpenSource with GPL (and i know it's a bit twisted to compare OpenSource hardware with Free Software, but hang on...) When i compare the two, then the GPL software has a body behind it in the Free software foundation, where OpenSouce is left to it's own devices. Isn't it time to take a stand and remix the free software philosophy into a free hardware foundation. Sure there are big differences between hard and software but it would be much better then being forced to buy into the capitalist mafia system. Now the ones who build great hardware on a low budget are forced to pay for a high priced 'license' that allows you to be yourselves if you pay for it... Do you see how wrong that is in a western world that believes in freedom? This is just what freedom is not! The beauty of building machines that can be replicated by others is massively undermined with 'out-dated' stuff like TradeMarks and Copyrights, that don't even seem to want to adapt to modern times. It feels like I'm missing some information about OpenSouce here and I hope that's the case. Though I hope that this little write-up sets something in action. A few discussions and maybe new solutions? Please think it over, and communicate with your friends about it. What is the future of open hardware? My stream of thought is much bigger then this, and I've tried to write down the essence and not the whole brainwave to keep things to the point. Thanks for your attention. EDIT: With some help of the free software crew I tracked down this article: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html What counts for Open Source Software counts as well for Open Source hardware. Hardware should also be free... (as in freedom) Just look at all the machines in the 3d printerlist and notice how others capitalise on the work of the original designs. Some give back to the community and keep things open, but others just make a copy and don't share the improvements or even try to patent idea's of others... Many companies who comercially produce copies of Open Source Hardware don't even respect the basic rules of the OpenSource Initiative. And they don't even seem to stand up for their own philosopy. Just have a look at their "10 commandments" Richard Stallman describes the difference as follows: "The two terms describe almost the same category of software, but they stand for views based on fundamentally different values. Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement. For the free software movement, free software is an ethical imperative, essential respect for the users' freedom. By contrast, the philosophy of open source considers issues in terms of how to make software “better”—in a practical sense only. It says that nonfree software is an inferior solution to the practical problem at hand. For the free software movement, however, nonfree software is a social problem, and the solution is to stop using it and move to free software." Keep in mind that hardware is not 100% comparable to software, but see how OpenSource undermines/disrespects the FREEDOM of the USERS, and thus also the freedom of the creators. Another alternative is Creative Commons, for somereason it didn't come to mind before but it's probably the best alternative available. |
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