"The case of programs today is very different from that of books a hundred years ago. The fact that the easiest way to copy a program is from one neighbor to another, the fact that a program has both source code and object code which are distinct, and the fact that a program is used rather than read and enjoyed, combine to create a situation in which a person who enforces a copyright is harming society as a whole both materially and spiritually; in which a person should not do so regardless of whether the law enables him to."
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Activists from the United StatesAcademics from the United StatesPeople from New York CityProgrammers from the United StatesFree software activists
Original Language: English
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Richard Stallman
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