Page 131
Like the alphabet, code in its broken-down components is free. How could it be any other way for either of them? Imagine if you had to pay royalties every time you wrote the letter ‘Z’ or ‘S’ - the entire literacy system would collapse! Imagine how much it would cost you to write just a shopping list, let alone a whole book!
Here's something to think about. In his new book Free Culture, March 2004, Lawrence Lessig reminds us of the debates which took place in the early days of photography. Eastman's invention of the Kodak camera made photography cheap, easy and available to all. However, the story could have been very different if the legal deliberations it gave rise to had been resolved differently.
The problem was this: Should a photographer, whether amateur or professional, obtain permission before capturing and printing an image?
As Lessig explains:
'The arguments in favour of requiring permission will sound surprisingly familiar.The photographer was "taking" something from the person or building whose photograph he shot - pirating something of value.' [Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture, USA: The Penguin Press, 2004]
(This reminds us, by the way, of the story of Thoreau's poet 'stealing' from a farmer, as described in Section 6 of Hello World.)
After a number of highly-debated cases, the courts finally decided that a photographer should be free to capture an image without compensating the source.
I leave you to think about what would have happened if the decision had gone the other way, so that every photograph taken would, by default, have involved a system of compensation for the owner of whatever was the source of the image.
NB: Lessig's book is available as a free download, or you can buy it if you prefer. Full information here.