Regardless of category, however, the freedom to copy
and redistribute noncommercially should remain
unabridged at all times, Stallman insists. If that
means giving Internet users the right to generate a
hundred copies of an article, image, song, or book and
then email the copies to a hundred strangers, so be it.
"It's clear that private occasional redistribution must
be permitted, because only a police state can stop
that," Stallman says. "It's antisocial to come between
people and their friends. Napster has convinced me that
we also need to permit, must permit, even noncommercial
redistribution to the public for the fun of it. Because
so many people want to do that and find it so useful."
When I ask whether the courts would accept such a
permissive outlook, Stallman cuts me off.
"That's the wrong question," he says. "I mean now
you've changed the subject entirely from one of ethics
to one of interpreting laws. And those are two totally
different questions in the same field. It's useless to
jump from one to the other.
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