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cc-licenses - what is freedom? was: Re: Why do you have to chose the "Attribution" option with the new CC 2.0 Licenses?

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Subject: Development of Creative Commons licenses

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  • From: mp <mp AT fsc.cc>
  • To: Discussion on the Creative Commons license drafts <cc-licenses AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: what is freedom? was: Re: Why do you have to chose the "Attribution" option with the new CC 2.0 Licenses?
  • Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 23:26:59 +0100

On Mon, 2004-08-16 at 23:04, Rob Myers wrote:
> For me personally, Free means GPL-compatible (I know, I know... :-) ).
> Which would be CC-SA, I think. BSD would be CC, wouldn't it?
> By the FSF's "Free Software" definition:
> http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/free-sw.html , I think that licenses with
> NC and ND in would be non-Free.

I am fascinated by the concept of "freedom"... in software the *most
radical view* seems to be that:

Freedom = the lifting of all constraints.

In the work of CC one would assume that the project was to translate the
Freedom of Free Software *as a metaphor*, rather than literally
transposing it unchanged/unchallenged to other domains. For what is Free
exactly?? - in the world of political theory the concept of lifting all
constraints is one of the central elements of the global capital market
forces, sometimes referred to as the laissez-faire aspect of
neo-liberalism. Human rights are constraints, as are the Ten
Commandments.... Is the world ready for Full Freedom beyond software?

I doubt it. My freedom is bound up with yours and with everyone else's,
-- and other parties' Freedom might well impinge upon your capacity to
be *free*... For instance, the pursuit of profit for profit's sake alone
through severe and devastating exploitation, such as exercised by oil
companies etc., -is that something that can be embraced by (or within)
Freedom? - can we be building freedom if our community includes such
actors?

For licenses are about property rights, and property rights are about
social organisation through community building - the Free Software
Community shows this so well.... but for the GPL to be translated beyond
software some critical thinking is needed - mere rhetoric and received
opinion won't get us far, IMHO.

How much damage and greed and violence can Freedom sustain?

Free Software in guided missiles, is that Freedom?

/mp
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