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permaculture - Re: Bill Mollison copyright statement

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Subject: permaculture

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  • From: Thilo Pfennig <vinci@alternativ.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Bill Mollison copyright statement
  • Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 12:00:01 +0200 (MEST)


Scott Pittman writes:


> All of us are beholden to someone who preceeded us for our knowledge and
> ability to survive - Bill certainly gives lots of credit to the aboriginal
> knowledge he has been taught and does so in his writings, if one bothers to
> read them. He also gives scholarships to any aboriginal who desires to
> take his classes. He also did the first geneology of the Tasmanian
> aborigines, whose existence had been denied by the Australian government,
> thereby giving them the right to claim Tasmanian tribal land and government
> benefits which had heretofore been refused.

That has nothing to do with the sources of information. The ones who
earning the money are people like Bill, who took this know-how, made
it their own and then want to forbid others to use it!

He can teach the aboriginal for free as much a s he likes. Also no
book written about them will ever give back the land or their living
culture.

Also nature provides us all with food, fresh air and know-how that we
need to survive for free. Copyright is a very unnatural thing. I am
not saying everybody who uses copyrights is bad, but what we see is
that genetic companies are currently stealing genes and copyrighting
them. Copyright is like a virus that is hindering us from distributing
information freely. THAT would be natural. This kind of permaculture
is Un-natural.

And I am sure, if more good information was free, the world would
look much better. There are many people who do not know much about
permaculture, because of the costs (copyright for books / courses).

If you want to change things, give your knowledge for free. If you
want to earn money, copyright your know-how, let everybody pay for the
know-how you yourself got cheaper other how.

I donĀ“t say those people make A LOT of money. But maybe it is the
question "from what" you make your money.


Our systems supports copyright and modern culture. Our culture is
stealing from everything (musically,culturally,scientifically ) since
many hundred years. By stealing I mean: Using it, publishing it,
claiming to own it and for instance forbid others to use or to
distribute it without permission.

Who pays for that? Why do you think southern countries are poor? Who
stole the gold? In Europe we now have laws that forbid to exchange
seeds from neighbor to neighbor. You must have a license. They want
to control, what seeds are distribute it. But the seeds should be be
"property" of nature - and nobody should tell me with whom or what I
exchange seeds (and information) with.

Forget about permaculture-ideas, if sou do not want the free
distribution of the ideas.




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