[Fsf-friends] Richard Stallman in Delhi

[Frederick Noronha]

------------------

History Society, Ramjas College + Sarai/ CSDS

invite you to a talk

" Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks"

by RICHARD STALLMAN, Founder, Free Software Foundation

on Friday, November 8, 2002

The talk will be followed by a discussion.

Venue: Auditorium, Ramjas College
Time: 11.30 AM

"COPYRIGHT developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to
fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. =
=A0
But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only
draconian punishments can enforce it. The global corporations that profit
from copyright are lobbying for draconian punishments, and to increase thei=
r
copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. =A0But if =
we
seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright--to promot=
e
progress, for the benefit of the public--then what must be done is either t=
o
reduce copyright powers or effectively eliminate them, depending on the kin=
d
of work. =A0Governments must now protect the public's right to copy."

RICHARD STALLMAN is "the founder of the GNU Project, launched in 1984 to
develop the free operating system GNU (an acronym for "GNU's Not Unix''), a=
nd
thereby give computer users the freedom that most of them have lost. GNU is
free software: everyone is free to copy it and redistribute it, as well as =
to
make changes either large or small."

Stallman has also founded the related Free Software Foundation (FSF) and is
outspoken about his belief that all software should be free. In his view =
=A0
proprietary software, for which corporations charge a fee, is wrong from a
moral or ethical standpoint.

-------------------------------------------------------