On Dec 4, 2009, at 2:40 PM, Patrick Anderson wrote:
Rob Myers wrote:
There's the V&A API in the UK, but as ever it's noncommercial -
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/information/information_apiterms
Anyone here happen to know if "for commercial purposes" includes
non-profit corporations?
8<---- OFF TOPIC ----
I wonder why so many licenses disallow commerce.
Maybe part of it is the continued confusion between the FSF's concepts
of 'commercial' and 'proprietary'.
Or, maybe a misguided presumption that "if it is commercial then it
must be soul sucking, big corporation, WalmarTescoCarrefoure bad." Or,
maybe it just sounds fashionable to be non-commercial.
Commercialization of technologies and ideas is so important because
that is what makes them come within grasp of common folks by bringing
their price down.
Another part might be the Copyright holder's (I'm also imagining
individual artisans who chose CC-NC) somewhat justified but otherwise
ham-handed attempt to recover some of their operating costs.
Could we (the users) ever learn how to organize and 'host' the basic
physical needs of people that try to do this good work?
Developers of "Open Knowledge" have basic necessities such as food,
shelter, simple clothing, etc. that they are unable to meet when they
receive no compensation for their valuable results.
Well, I am blessed with having a job at a large research university
that pays me to pursue and create new knowledge. It takes care of me.
It behooves me to give my results away. If someone (including myself)
is able to commercialize an idea of mine, heck, I will be only too
honored.
Creative output is a different beast, but scientific knowledge should
be given away completely freely, without any expectations in return,
not even of attribution, other than that provided by custom. This I
believe.
This causes many of them to lead a double life - where they must care
of their bodily needs through proprietary means (or in this example -
where they must disallow commerce) even while trying to lead a life of
"moral purity" [as Saint IGNUcius would say].
Patrick
s
--
Puneet Kishor http://www.punkish.org
Carbon Model http://carbonmodel.org
Charter Member, Open Source Geospatial Foundation http://www.osgeo.org
Science Commons Fellow, http://sciencecommons.org/about/whoweare/kishor
Nelson Institute, UW-Madison http://www.nelson.wisc.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Assertions are politics; backing up assertions with evidence is science
=======================================================================
_______________________________________________
okfn-discuss mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
