[CS-FSLUG] Proprietary Software: Capitalism or Greed?

[Robert W.]

On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:55:39 -0500 Don Parris <dcparris at carolina.rr.com>
wrote:
> Recently, Eben Moglen was quoted as saying that proprietary software
> wasn't  really about capitalism, but about greed.  While that sounds
> good, what is the  basis for such a statement?  The statement is
> important because it cuts to  the heart of the defense of proprietary
> software.  
[snip...]

The dictionary defines capitalism as follows:
     An economic system in which the means of production and
     distribution are privately or corporately owned and development
     is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of
     profits gained in a free market.

I've never heard anyone argue with the first part. Even code released
under the GPL is privately owned by the original author. Proprietary
software, obviously, also falls under private ownership as well.

Most proprietary software advocates like to ignore the second part,
though. The profits gained from a free market follow the law of supply
and demand. If your supply outpaces the demand, then prices fall. When
your supply trails the demand, prices rise.

The supply of software is nearly infinite. One can make a perfect copy
of any software. And one can continue making perfect copies without
degrading the original. So as the supply approaches infinity, the price
drops closer to zero.

That is why proprietary software companies can not survive in a
capitalist economy. They produce a nearly valueless product.

A proprietary software license is an attempt to artificially reduce
supply so prices rise. In other words, proprietary licenses counteract a
free market. And, therefore, goes against the very definition of
capitalism.

-- 
Robert W.
robertwo at insightbb.com

Who of you by worrying can add a single 
hour to his life? -- Matthew 6:27