Re: Towards a better license for Mutopia

[Bernd Warken]

On Thu, Mar 01, 2001 at 10:24:27AM -0500, David Raleigh Arnold wrote:
> It is very important that a patent matter is a civil case in the US,
> while a copyright violation is tried in a criminal court. You don't
> *want* an attourney for a copyright matter unless you are the defendant.

Good point.  So using a free license is quite safe.

> Just because an
> attourney represents to you that he can assist you is not enough reason
> to retain him.

Lawyers can be helpful for creating new legal infrastructures, as is
necessary for new free licenses.
 
> OTOH, it is unlikely that being in the right will get you anywhere with
> a patent case. The system is broken.

You are right, but this is not limited to patents.
 
> I know Judge Jackson, who proposes to dismantle M$. He is as good as
> they come. But any judge who lacks the basic wisdom to understand that a
> death sentence is wrong is not ok. They think it will never come back to
> them. They have themselves mixed up with God, a pitfall for followers of
> someone else's religion. ;-)

Contrary to what Americans are used to, I think that law and
politics do not have anything to do with God.  The Pilgrims have stolen
God's Own Country, so now America belongs to someone else, seemingly
quite barbaric when compared to Europe.  Death sentence
was removed even in Bavaria, the most tribal place in Europe ;-)

> I never felt more as if I were living in the worst days of Imperial Rome
> than
> a few days ago, when the media was making a disgusting display over the
> "heroic" death of a popular charioteer (NASCAR). And bear in mind that
> Bush didn't steal the election, it was stolen
> *for* him. He is no Napoleon, fortunately. Lyndon Johnson OTOH seized
> power by murdering his predecessor, so Bush wasn't the first, either.
> 
So maybe, Gore gave way to survive ;-)  He is invited to come to Europe, 
which is in a very healthy political evolution :-)

> The USA will be at war, probably in Colombia, within the year. We are
> already, but I mean a serious escalation. A big war is the only way that
> Bush can get any money from rich people to delay economic meltdown.

Today, people aren't as stupid as they were before the Vietnam war. 
Daddy Bush was melted down after his Iraq engagement, so Bush the Kid 
will make the same experience.  Let the children play ;)
> 
> Cheer up! The ride is easiest on the way down. :-)
 
Don't panic.  Riding down is only a special case of the more general
principle that says "Follow the geodesics!" So by choosing the right 
starting angle, you decide where you will float.  One can use the momentum
of the downfall to get to somewhere else. 

Bernd Warken <address@hidden>