Open Sources 2.0

Chapter 10. Why Open Source Needs Copyright Politics

Wendy Seltzer

Some programmers and businesspeople draw a distinction between “Free Software” and “open source.” Free Software is political, they say, and open source is pragmatic. Free Software developers want to recode the world; open sourcers just want to write good code. This distinction is, of course, exaggerated. Many people adopt these labels for their own reasons; some switch between them depending on audience or context. But even the most apolitical of open source developers and users should be concerned by the copyright battles waged right now. The copyright law being made and enforced today will impact the software we can develop and use for decades, and its impact reaches far beyond commercial media.

Imagine, for example, that you’d like to build an open source home multimedia server. Nothing fancy yet, just a place to play music, watch the occasional DVD, and record television programs—one machine to replace the menagerie of devices nesting in your media center. Easier developed than cleared legally. Technically, you (or others willing to share with you) will be able to meet the challenges with Moore’s Law-fast processors, ever-cheaper massive storage capacities, and clever user interfaces. The legal obstacles are harder to hack. Start with the music. If you have standard CDs, you’re all set: plenty of Free programs let you play them from the CD drive, rip them to Ogg, FLAC, or MP3 (with a nod, perhaps, to the patent ...