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| 1 | Protect Your Freedom to Write Programs | ||
| 2 | Join the League for Programming Freedom | ||
| 3 | (Version of February 3, 1994) | ||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | Ten years ago, programmers were allowed to write programs using all | ||
| 6 | the techniques they knew, and providing whatever features they felt | ||
| 7 | were useful. This is no longer the case. New monopolies, known as | ||
| 8 | software patents and interface copyrights, have taken away our freedom | ||
| 9 | of expression and our ability to do a good job. | ||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | "Look and feel" lawsuits attempt to monopolize well-known command | ||
| 12 | languages; some have succeeded. Copyrights on command languages | ||
| 13 | enforce gratuitous incompatibility, close opportunities for | ||
| 14 | competition, and stifle incremental improvements. | ||
| 15 | |||
| 16 | Software patents are even more dangerous; they make every design | ||
| 17 | decision in the development of a program carry a risk of a lawsuit, | ||
| 18 | with draconian pretrial seizure. It is difficult and expensive to | ||
| 19 | find out whether the techniques you consider using are patented; it is | ||
| 20 | impossible to find out whether they will be patented in the future. | ||
| 21 | |||
| 22 | The League for Programming Freedom is a grass-roots organization of | ||
| 23 | professors, students, businessmen, programmers and users dedicated to | ||
| 24 | bringing back the freedom to write programs. The League is not | ||
| 25 | opposed to the legal system that Congress expressly established for | ||
| 26 | software--copyright on individual programs. Our aim is to reverse the | ||
| 27 | recent changes that prevent programmers from doing their work. | ||
| 28 | |||
| 29 | The League works to abolish the new monopolies by publishing articles, | ||
| 30 | talking with public officials, denouncing egregious offenders, and | ||
| 31 | filing amicus curiae briefs, most notably against Lotus in its suit | ||
| 32 | against Borland. We testified twice at the recent Patent Office | ||
| 33 | hearings on software patents. We welcome suggestions for other | ||
| 34 | activities, as well as help in carrying them out. | ||
| 35 | |||
| 36 | |||
| 37 | (Added 2003) The League for Programming Freedom is inactive nowadays, | ||
| 38 | though its web site www.programming-freedom.org is still maintained. | ||
| 39 | It would be very useful to find a person who could take the initiative | ||
| 40 | to get the LPF operating again. It will be a substantial job, | ||
| 41 | requiring persistence and working with a lawyer. If you want to do | ||
| 42 | it, please write to rms@gnu.org. | ||
| 43 | |||