How the courts would
interpret the existing laws is mainly in a harsh way,
because that's the way these laws have been bought by
publishers."
The comment provides an insight into Stallman's
political philosophy: just because the legal system
currently backs up businesses' ability to treat
copyright as the software equivalent of land title
doesn't mean computer users have to play the game
according to those rules. Freedom is an ethical issue,
not a legal issue. "I'm looking beyond what the
existing laws are to what they should be," Stallman
says. "I'm not trying to draft legislation. I'm
thinking about what should the law do? I consider the
law prohibiting the sharing of copies with your friend
the moral equivalent of Jim Crow. It does not deserve respect."
The invocation of Jim Crow prompts another question.
How much influence or inspiration does Stallman draw
from past political leaders? Like the civil-rights
movement of the 1950s and 1960s, his attempt to drive
social change is based on an appeal to timeless values:
freedom, justice, and fair play.
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