[CS-FSLUG] Response to a Libre Software Skeptic

[dcolburn at bibleseven.com]

>  Marco Tedaldi wrote: Am 15.01.2012 00:34, schrieb
>  dcolburn at bibleseven.com:
> > Everything that exists began with an idea.
> >
> > Creation from the Lord God, inventions from man.
> >
>  Right... and what compensation does humankind give to god for that?

Everything.  Absolute surrender.

> > The test of the logical-extreme requires that nothing could ever be
> > patented and therefore the already-rich and well-equipped would
> > (like the Chinese) steal other people's ideas and bring them to
> > market, getting richer while depriving the inventor (the
> > idea-person) of due compensation.
> >
>  The chinese are 1. not rich 2. were so far behind technologically,
>  that they could not have copied everything... until european and
>  american comapies started to bring production there because of
>  cheaper labour... and thus sold the know how there to make bigger
>  gains...

Take a look at the modern history of government-supported corporate 
espionage.

We have exacerbated the problem but it was already rampant.

Sure, the irresponsible Clinton Administration gave the Chinese the
technology to target our cities with nuclear weapons at least 15 years
sooner than they could have gotten there themselves.

Google arrogantly rushed into China, sold-out to government censorship,
then still discovered that they were dealing with a system even less-ethical
than their own - their code was stolen and their dreams of dominating China
technologically (at least in the search and database area) were dashed.

The Chinese (and the Russians, and others), and their surrogates, have been
stealing technology all across the globe for decades.

>  But this is the sense of innovation! This is the fule of innovation.
>  Be betzter than the other one. So if you have an idea and make it
>  happen, you're the first. The copier will take time to make the copy
>  and so will be late. Because the real innovator will have done the
>  next step until than. The copier will alway lag behind and will have
>  to feed on the leftovers. The copier can't make the same win margin,
>  because he will have to be way cheaper than the original.

Really?  So the guy with 3 nickles, a good idea in his garage, and no
way to market or manufacture will win over the corporation with a
room filled with lawyers, a huge marketing system, and manufacturing
in China on poor and slave labor?

>  And why can china be chaper in production than europe and the us? Is
>  it god given, that they have to be poor and we are the rich ones? Is
>  it our god give right to feed on the cheap labour from there?

The elites in China have subjugated the majority.

The Chinese military controls a great deal of the manufacturing, which
is where the defective products with toxic content always seems to
originate - they do this to pump billions into the military that don't show
up in the official numbers - tricking the clueless world into thinking
they are not rushing to create the most-massive military machine in the
history of the world.

> > One cannot separate creativity from the creator, nor the product
> > from the idea.
> >
>  Right. So patenting is wrong. The basic idea seemed good... but it
>  is a man made idea and therefore it MUST fail (like communism and
>  other stuff). Monopolies stiffle innovation, because monopolists have
>  no pressure to innovate. A monopolist has to ask himself:"Why
>  innovate when there is no competition around?" Patents are even used
>  to block competitors on purpose! Mayn companies have patents they do
>  use actively themselfes but for the sole purpose to block competition
>  in this field.

Patents are designed to protect the ideas of the little guy from the theft
of the big guy.

The system is broken but the concept is necessary.

Monopolies are illegal for a reason.

> > Unless you reduce humankind to "beasts of burden" one must allow
> > that something other than manual labor has value worthy of
> > compensation.
> >
>  Did I write that? I wrote about goods and services. Especially
>  "services" is very broad! Services can be manual labor. But also
>  compositing a song for someone is a service. Writing a software for
>  someone is a service. Research can be a service. And there are
>  plenty of examples that proofe that this works. While there are also
>  plenty of examples, that todays system with copyright and patents
>  only benefits huge corporations and lawers.

Yes, therefore, intellectual property must be protected.

>  About patents. I can only suggest to read this paper:
> 
http://www.bu.edu/law/faculty/scholarship/workingpapers/documents/Bessen-Ford-Meurer-no-11-45rev.pdf
>
 > Basically it says: "Patent trolls have cost the US corporations 500B
 > US$ in the last 20 years". USD 500B. If I get that about right that's
 > 2000$ per person in the US. And you have paid it, because the
 > corporations always pay with the money of the people (either the
 > products are more expensive or they pay less to the workers... either
 > way, the people pay!)

That the system is broken due to corruption and/or incompetence in
the bureaucracy and in Congress does not render the concept flawed.

A good idea poorly-implemented misrepresents the idea, it does not
disprove it.

-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary!
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~