Russell McOrmond on Protecting Property Rights in a Digital World

In response to the the petition to protect Information Technology Property Rights at the Ottawa Linux Symposium, Russell McOrmond posted an article on his blog dealing with property rights in the digital world.

Russel McOrmond is a figure to reckon with about issues on property rights. The list of credentials about him goes on but he is best associated with FLORA.org (of which he is sponsor), an independently owned and operated volunteer service that acts as a sort of commons or free-space where organizations can set up lines of communication and provide information to members of the community.

In his blog, McOrmond posted the question as to who owns the hardware. He pondered on the rights owners of tangible property should expect to be protected in the law. He insisted that hardware owners have the right to replace a built-in software with software of their own choosing. He also pointed out that they have the right to author. Without these rights, he says, hardwares will not be obeying the instructions of the owner, or protect the interests of the owner.

In this light, McOrmond also argued with Linus Torvalds, founder and leader of the Linux kernel project, about the endless debate on the modernization of the GNU General Public License (moving to GPL Version 3). In McOrmond’s words, “While I am uncomfortable when people refer to infringement of intangible exclusive rights such as copyright as if it were “theft”, I am quite comfortable stating that I believe it is theft of tangible property when hardware manufacturers lock out the owners of the hardware.”

Although some people disagree with his ideas, McOrmond is steadfast in his belief that there should be no controversy about the provisions of the GPL that protect property rights and that if a consumer purchases a hardware, he automatically owns it and is no longer owned by the manufacturer. For a more detailed information about the issue, you can read Russel McOrmond’s article after the jump.

In response to the the petition to protect Information Technology Property Rights at the Ottawa Linux Symposium, Russell McOrmond posted an article on his blog dealing with property rights in the digital world.

Russel McOrmond is a figure to reckon with about issues on property rights. The list of credentials about him goes on but he is best associated with FLORA.org (of which he is sponsor), an independently owned and operated volunteer service that acts as a sort of commons or free-space where organizations can set up lines of communication and provide information to members of the community.

In his blog, McOrmond posted the question as to who owns the hardware. He pondered on the rights owners of tangible property should expect to be protected in the law. He insisted that hardware owners have the right to replace a built-in software with software of their own choosing. He also pointed out that they have the right to author. Without these rights, he says, hardwares will not be obeying the instructions of the owner, or protect the interests of the owner.

In this light, McOrmond also argued with Linus Torvalds, founder and leader of the Linux kernel project, about the endless debate on the modernization of the GNU General Public License (moving to GPL Version 3). In McOrmond’s words, “While I am uncomfortable when people refer to infringement of intangible exclusive rights such as copyright as if it were “theft”, I am quite comfortable stating that I believe it is theft of tangible property when hardware manufacturers lock out the owners of the hardware.”

Although some people disagree with his ideas, McOrmond is steadfast in his belief that there should be no controversy about the provisions of the GPL that protect property rights and that if a consumer purchases a hardware, he automatically owns it and is no longer owned by the manufacturer. For a more detailed information about the issue, you can read Russel McOrmond’s article after the jump.