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25853
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1 Protect Your Freedom to Write Programs
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2 Join the League for Programming Freedom
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3 (Version of February 3, 1994)
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4
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5 Ten years ago, programmers were allowed to write programs using all
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6 the techniques they knew, and providing whatever features they felt
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7 were useful. This is no longer the case. New monopolies, known as
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8 software patents and interface copyrights, have taken away our freedom
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9 of expression and our ability to do a good job.
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10
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11 "Look and feel" lawsuits attempt to monopolize well-known command
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12 languages; some have succeeded. Copyrights on command languages
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13 enforce gratuitous incompatibility, close opportunities for
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14 competition, and stifle incremental improvements.
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15
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16 Software patents are even more dangerous; they make every design
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17 decision in the development of a program carry a risk of a lawsuit,
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18 with draconian pretrial seizure. It is difficult and expensive to
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19 find out whether the techniques you consider using are patented; it is
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20 impossible to find out whether they will be patented in the future.
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21
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22 The League for Programming Freedom is a grass-roots organization of
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23 professors, students, businessmen, programmers and users dedicated to
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24 bringing back the freedom to write programs. The League is not
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25 opposed to the legal system that Congress expressly established for
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26 software--copyright on individual programs. Our aim is to reverse the
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27 recent changes that prevent programmers from doing their work.
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28
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29 The League works to abolish the new monopolies by publishing articles,
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30 talking with public officials, denouncing egregious offenders, and
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31 filing amicus curiae briefs, most notably against Lotus in its suit
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32 against Borland. We testified twice at the recent Patent Office
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33 hearings on software patents. We welcome suggestions for other
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34 activities, as well as help in carrying them out.
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35
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36
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37 (Added 2003) The League for Programming Freedom is inactive nowadays,
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38 though its web site www.programming-freedom.org is still maintained.
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39 It would be very useful to find a person who could take the initiative
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40 to get the LPF operating again. It will be a substantial job,
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41 requiring persistence and working with a lawyer. If you want to do
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42 it, please write to rms@gnu.org.
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