QuantumG - Slashdot User

Submission + - Do you educate family about copyright issues?

Submitted by

QuantumG

on Sunday March 18, 2007 @07:00PM

QuantumG writes: "We live in a time where copyright owners form lobby groups (like the RIAA and MPAA) to misinform the public of their rights and obligations under copyright law. Those insane warnings at the beginning of movies make no mention of fair use and throw around words like "crime" and "theft" with semantic abandon. When your own mother asks you to copy a movie so she can give it to a friend, how wrong can it be? Does any else have these problems or do I just have technically competent, copyright blasé friends and family?"

Submission + - Greg KH Offers Free Linux Driver Development!

Submitted by

QuantumG

on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @04:02AM

QuantumG writes: "Kernel hacker Greg KH has made a public offer to develop Linux drivers, for free, to any vendor that is willing to release hardware specifications or make available "an engineer that is willing to answer questions every once in a while." The offer is made in conjunction with the OSDL/TLF Tech Board who are providing a legal framework for managing any NDA requirements that vendors may have. The announcement has been made in the hope that vendors will be more inclined to label their products as "Linux Ready" by reducing developer workload."

Submission + - What ought I do if a friend asks me for a copy?

Submitted by

QuantumG

on Friday December 01, 2006 @05:39AM

QuantumG writes: "It happens all the time, and it happens to just about everyone nowadays, so what is one supposed to do when a friend asks you for a copy of that game/song/movie/program which is licensed under a non-permissive license? Legally, of course, I'm supposed to say no. I'm supposed to be shocked that my friend, who I thought was an honest kind of guy, would ever ask me to make an unauthorized copy of anything. I'm supposed to look around and make sure no-one heard and maybe see if this guy, who I thought was my friend, has swiped anything while I wasn't looking. Of course, I don't. I'll happily make him a copy, so would most of us, is this the right thing to do? Do the wants of my friend outweigh the legal rights of the copyright owner? Or is the best strategy just to avoid the problem altogether by using exclusively permissively licensed works? When was the last time the readers of Slashdot thought this through?"

Slashdot Top Deals