13 Jun 2000
Linux, the DVD, and the Law
As I wrote in the last column, the central importance of free software—from my perspective both as an academic observer and as a lawyer involved in the free software movement’s legal strategy—is its effect in changing who controls the switches, or information distribution devices, that comprise the network of networks we call “the Internet.” Because free software is distributed under terms that guarantee that each user has access to source code, and can freely modify and redistribute that code however she or he likes, programs can be always be altered so that the information flow to and from individual users is under their own control.
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2000.06.13-00:00.00