[cc-community] More discussion on NC

Alan Cox alan at lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk
Mon Oct 11 11:30:30 EDT 2010


> I think that there is a visceral argument here that is very different to 
> software and data. In those fields, you can expect that everything you 

I wish people would stop drawing that imaginary line. Software isn't
different. There are tons of software cases where an economic analysis
says NC or personal use makes economic sense and where things like the GPL
do not.

Look *Microsoft* licenses elements of some of the most used software in
the world this way.

Talk to the computer game developers and a large number of them will give
the same response you'd get from book authors, artists, musicians and
many other creative groups. They value their control, they value the
reward for their creative endeavour and they don't see a business model
in free software value add or in mutual self-interest arrangements.[1]

"Free Software" as a model works only for certain kinds of stuff.

> By the way, I did draft my own NC licence ages ago before we had CC in 
> the UK :)
> 
> http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/script-ed/sol.htm

And at least had the sense to define what NC meant a bit better. CC-NC
needs some clearer definitions. I find your licence much clearer than
CC-NC.

Alan
--
[1] The classic example of what I mean by "mutual self interest" being
Mozilla. An enormous number of people have an interest in

a) multiple browsers existing so its not Microsoft controlled
b) a browser they can package into their revenue creating products

none of them see it as a direct revenue source - its an overhead, and one
that happens to be most efficiently managed by free software licensing.




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