Re: Iran, copyright, Matlab and Octave

[Przemek Klosowski]

On 04/10/2013 09:15 AM, Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso wrote:
> On 10 April 2013 09:07, Andy Buckle <address@hidden> wrote:
> > I would add that, even if it is not illegal in Iran to copy Matlab freely,
> > it is still immoral.
>
> I don't think so. Copying is not wrong. Copying is not theft:
>
>      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU7axyrHWDQ
>
> The Mathworks isn't actually losing anything by having Matlab being
> copied. It's just not *gaining* anything monetarily, but they are
> gaining mindshare. For this reason, most of the time TMW turns a blind
> eye to the rampant copyright infringement. Some of the most benign
> actions, such as taking a Matlab m-file, modifying it, and hosting it
> along with your own Matlab package are actually copyright
> infringement, but few would think this is immoral.
>
> As long as everyone is using Matlab, TMW can still profit from it one
> way or another, whether with license fees today outside Iran, or
> license fees tomorrow when our Matlab-addicted Iranian student goes to
> a country where copyright lawsuits are profitable.
>
> Copying Matlab isn't any more wrong than copying Octave is.

This is a dangerous argument. In my personal opinion, Matlab was created 
by TMW so they have the right to decide how they want to handle it. 
Octave creators chose one path, TMW chose another and I believe it is 
moral to respect their choice.

Here's a silly analogy: if I invite people to my house, I will feed them 
_my_ favorite food, make them take off their shoes and keep showing my 
vacation pictures. If they don't enjoy that, they should not come again, 
but I don't think  they have a right to say that I would not be harmed 
if they cooked their own food, or watched TV instead of talking to me.

It all boils down to my favorite definition of anti-social behavior: 
it's something that, if everyone did it, we'll all be worse off. I want 
the right to decide what to do with the stuff I own, so I give others a 
similar consideration. In this case, I don't agree with a lot of 
copyright rules, and I think that many copyright owners, including TMW, 
are being excessive in their demands (e.g. I consider Matlab Central 
terms of use stupid and offensive), but I tolerate the existing rules 
because the alternative is to reject them, and that is too anarchic for 
my taste.