Changeset - 6c97541824e7
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Bradley Kuhn (bkuhn) - 10 years ago 2014-03-20 12:57:06
bkuhn@ebb.org
Rewrite and wordsmith this paragraph.
1 file changed with 15 insertions and 14 deletions:
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gpl-lgpl.tex
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@@ -2590,20 +2590,21 @@ versions.  This practice thwarts the expectations of developers and users
 
alike, because the right to modify is one of the core freedoms the GPL is
 
designed to secure.
 

	
 
Technological measures to defeat users' rights --- often described by such
 
Orwellian phrases as ``digital rights management,'' which actually means
 
limitation or outright destruction of users' legal rights, or ``trusted
 
computing,'' which actually means selling people computers they cannot trust
 
--- are alike in one basic respect.  They all employ technical means to turn
 
the system of copyright law, where the powers of the copyright holder are
 
limited exceptions to general freedom, into a prison, where everything not
 
specifically permitted is utterly forbidden, and indeed, if the full extent
 
of their ambition is realized, would be technically impossible.  This system
 
of ``para-copyright'' has been created since the adoption of GPLv2, through
 
legislation in the United States, the European Union, and elsewhere that
 
makes it a serious civil or even criminal offense to escape from these
 
restrictions, even where the purpose in doing so is to restore the users'
 
legal rights that the technology wrongfully prevents them from exercising.
 
Technological measures to defeat users' rights.  These measures are often
 
described by such Orwellian phrases, such as ``digital rights management,''
 
which actually means limitation or outright destruction of users' legal
 
rights, or ``trusted computing,'' which actually means selling people
 
computers they cannot trust.  However, these measures are alike in one basic
 
respect.  They all employ technical means to turn the system of copyright law
 
(where the powers of the copyright holder are limited exceptions to general
 
freedom) into a virtual prison, where everything not specifically permitted
 
is utterly forbidden.  This system of ``para-copyright'' was created well
 
after GPLv2 was written --- initially through legislation in the USA and the
 
EU, and later in other jurisdictions as well.  This legislation creates
 
serious civil or even criminal penalties to escape from these restrictions
 
(commonly and aptly called ``jail-breaking a device''), even where the
 
purpose in doing so is to restore the users' legal rights that the technology
 
wrongfully prevents them from exercising.
 

	
 
% FIXME: Remove FSF specific parts
 

	
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