8 Feb
2010
8 Feb
'10
3 p.m.
Copyright vs. Public
====================
Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed
to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing
press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer
networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it.
The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying
for draconian punishments, and to increase their copyright powers,
while suppressing public access to technology. But if we
seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of
copyright—to promote progress, for the benefit of the
public—then we must make changes in the other direction.
Following the speech is a demonstration on [Waisenhausplatz](
http://www.digitale-nachhaltigkeit.ch/2010/02/richard-stallman/) at 1 pm.
**Time and place:** Thursday, 11 February 2010, 10 o'clock am, in the Aula
(room 210) in the university main building,
**Website:** [Stallman on patents](
http://choose.s-i.ch/events/2010-stallman)
Biography
---------
Richard Stallman launched the development of the GNU operating system
(see [www.gnu.org](http://gnu.org)) in 1984. GNU is free software: everyone
has the
freedom to copy it and redistribute it, as well as to make changes
either large or small. The GNU/Linux system, basically the GNU
operating system with Linux added, is used on tens of millions of
computers today. Stallman has received the ACM Grace Hopper Award, a
MacArthur Foundation fellowship, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's
Pioneer award, and the Takeda Award for Social/Economic
Betterment, as well as several honorary doctorates.
This event is cosponsored by [CHOOSE](http://choose.s-i.ch/) Swiss Group for
Object-Oriented Systems and Environment and [/ch/open](
http://www.ch-open.ch/), sponsor for open and free systems.