Like many legal scholars,
Lessig sees the GPL as a major bulwark of the current
so-called "digital commons," the vast agglomeration of
community-owned software programs, network and
telecommunication standards that have triggered the
Internet's exponential growth over the last three
decades. Rather than connect Stallman with other
Internet pioneers, men such as Vannevar Bush, Vinton
Cerf, and J. C. R. Licklider who convinced others to
see computer technology on a wider scale, Lessig sees
Stallman's impact as more personal, introspective, and,
ultimately, unique: [Stallman] changed the debate from
is to ought. He made people see how much was at stake,
and he built a device to carry these ideals forward . .
. That said, I don't quite know how to place him in the
context of Cerf or Licklider. The innovation is
different. It is not just about a certain kind of code,
or enabling the Internet. [It's] much more about
getting people to see the value in a certain kind of
Internet. I don't think there is anyone else in that
class, before or after.
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