-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256
Stefano Maffulli wrote:
On Wed, 2006-06-21 at 11:02 +0200, Andreas K. Foerster wrote:
Wow, now Creative Commons authors have the FREEDOM to restrict their works to customers of Microsoft at last!
Yes, I personally concur: endorsing so enthusiastically this very silly plugin is the stupidest move that Lessig did lately. How can somebody write something like "Code is law" and then be happy about having a license applied to content encoded into non-standard format and non-free software? Who cares, I say.
The problem is that this endorsement (and this move in general) is designed to give a certain amount of 'freedom' legitimacy to Microsoft Office in the eyes of the average computer user; in short, this is a perfect public relations tool for ensuring the perception of increased freedom without engaging with actual freedom.
I'm concerned that Joe and Joan Bloggs will think Microsoft are doing something good and will wonder why annoy geeks like us are kicking up a fuss. Microsoft have made a move that effectively undermines those seeking true freedom.
Smart public relations. Bad news for freedom. The real question is "how do we ensure that a clear freedom message is being broadcast when there is all this interference?"
Shane
- -- Shane Martin Coughlan e: shane@opendawn.com m: +447773180107 (UK) +353862262570 (Ire) w: www.opendawn.com - --- OpenPGP: http://www.opendawn.com/shane/publickey.asc