# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/new-monopoly.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: new-monopoly.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2021-09-19 16:26+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "" "U.S. Congress Threatens to Establish a New Kind of Monopoly - GNU Project - " "Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "U.S. Congress Threatens to Establish a New Kind of Monopoly" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Companies that want monopoly powers to control public use of the information " "we get from data bases are trying to pass a law this year in the " "U.S.—creating, for the first time, a private monopoly over repeating " "publicly known information. They are using the “good bill, bad " "bill” method; the “bad” bill is HR 354; the " "“good” bill is HR 1858." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This method should be familiar. First, one legislator introduces an " "outrageous bill, one that would give a large handout of money or power to " "certain special interests and serves no legitimate public purpose. This " "inspires a chorus of opposition from other special interests that the bill " "would trample." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "So a second legislator introduces a more cautious bill, more clearly " "written, with some safeguards, avoiding some gross abuses, offering a " "smaller handout to a somewhat broader spectrum of special " "interests—and still diminishing the public treasury or the public's " "freedom." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The second bill is typically praised for its “balanced” " "approach, and interest groups that might oppose the general idea feel " "obliged to support it, to make sure that the even worse first bill won't " "pass. With little opposition remaining, the second bill passes, and society " "takes one step for the worse." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "A few years later, the first legislator may propose another give-away. If " "we keep meeting his sponsors half-way each time, over time they can get as " "much as they like." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This time, the “bad” bill is HR 354, which would effectively " "allow facts to become private property, simply through their inclusion in an " "electronic data base. Even mentioning more than a handful of the facts from " "any data base in a publication would be illegal, unless you could get them " "from some other source—often impossible, since in many cases there is " "no other ultimate source for a certain kind of fact." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Consider for example the scores of professional sports games. The score is " "counted in a computer, whose memory counts as a data base. Under HR 354, " "regularly printing scores in a newspaper would become illegal." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "HR 354 would probably give Network Solutions a permanent monopoly on the " "Internet domain name data base, making any change in the handling of top " "level domains impossible." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Any computer program counts as a data base under HR 354. So if the facts " "about the program's user interface and APIs can't be obtained from anywhere " "else, any compatible program would be prohibited. This would be devastating " "for the future of free software." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Ominously, many collections of public records, maintained by companies on " "contract to governments, would become property of those companies." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "And West Publishing Company would regain its effective monopoly over the " "data needed to file a legal brief in much of the U.S. West maintains a data " "base of court decisions, and some courts require briefs to cite these " "decisions using page numbers as they appear in West's data base." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "West, seeking to prevent the necessary information from being available " "other than through their expensive service, used to claim that the " "pagination and page numbers were copyrighted, but a Federal court ruled " "against them. The court said that these page numbers don't result from " "creativity, so they are not copyrightable. But they are indubitably a data " "base, so HR 354 would prohibit anyone else from providing this data to the " "public—thus granting West a permanent monopoly on the law itself." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "HR 354 would also interfere with scientific research, genealogical research, " "publication of stock prices, and many other areas of life and work. So it's " "no wonder that it has generated strong opposition. The Supreme Court might " "reject the bill as unconstitutional, but no one wants to rely on this. " "Hence HR 1858—this year's “good” bill." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "HR 1858 explicitly avoids most of the outrageous problems. It establishes a " "narrower kind of monopoly, permitting use of the facts in a different kind " "of data base, or in anything other than an electronic data base." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Thus, you'll still be able to print game scores in an article, because an " "article doesn't count as a data base. A program is not a data base either, " "under HR 1858, so it will not create a new obstacle to writing compatible " "software." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "HR 1858 also excludes data bases for running the Internet. (But not the " "data bases that may some day be used for running future worldwide systems, " "even if they are just as important as the Internet is today.) It excludes " "data bases made by or for the Federal government. (But, by default, it " "doesn't exclude those made by or for state governments; this is a " "substantial loophole in HR 1858.)" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "A wide range of organizations are supporting HR 1858—including many " "universities and professional organizations. Some of the letters of support " "show a clear desire for some kind of monopoly power." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "HR 1858 is much less harmful than HR 354—if we have to choose between " "the two, we should prefer HR 1858. But should we have to choose between a " "big loss of freedom and a smaller one?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The advocates of these laws offer a reason, of course, for their proposal to " "limit our freedom. They say that nobody will maintain data bases without a " "monopoly over the contents. They have no specific evidence for this claim; " "it is based on an article of faith: a general assumption that nobody will do " "anything without a monopoly over the results." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Just a few years ago, people said the same thing about software—that " "nobody would write programs without having a monopoly on them. The Free " "Software movement has proved that this is not true, and in the process, we " "have refuted that general assumption. Selfishness is not the whole of human " "nature. One kind of intellectual work, at least, CAN be done without a " "monopoly on the results." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But data bases are not software. Will anyone develop data bases without a " "data base monopoly law?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We know they will—because they already do. Many electronic data bases " "are available now, and the number is increasing, not decreasing. And many " "kinds of data base are byproducts or even preconditions of other activities " "that people do for other reasons." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The data base companies can't deny this, so they threaten us with future " "uncertainty. “Maybe we do this today, but ten years from now nobody " "will do it any more, unless you give us special privilege.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We don't know what will happen in ten years; neither do they. The economic " "situation of the Internet is changing rapidly, and no one knows where it is " "going. Perhaps, in 2009, commercial data bases will disappear from the " "Internet. Or perhaps they will be very successful. Perhaps networks of " "volunteers will maintain all the data bases anyone might want. Perhaps " "advertising will provide a comfortable source of revenue to any company that " "maintains a data base; perhaps a much weaker law saying “If you " "redistribute our data base, you must redistribute our ads too” would " "serve their interests almost as well. Nobody knows." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "What we do know is that things will change; if a data base law is passed " "this year, it will be obsolete a few years from now. But any attempt to " "abolish it will be opposed by the data base companies, which will protect " "their privileges by predicting the sky would fall without them. They will " "say: “We exist, so the law must be working.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "It is folly, or worse, to lock in a restrictive policy this year, to solve a " "problem whose existence is just speculation. A data base monopoly will take " "away your freedom, it's a surrender to special interests, it's hasty, and " "there is no clear public need for it. We should instead let the Internet " "mature, and see what problems really need to be solved." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "So if you are a U.S. voter, write your Congressman now. Say that if he or " "she has a chance to vote on whether the data base bill should be like HR 354 " "or HR 1858, to choose HR 1858. But then say, when the data base legislation " "ultimately comes up for a vote, to vote against it, whatever it says." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "I've written a sample letter that you can use, but remember that your letter " "will carry more weight if you write in your own words. Send your letter on " "paper; e-mail does not impress legislators, because they know how easy it is " "to send. Be polite, but not timid, and try to keep it under 20 lines. " "Please email your letter to <a " "href=\"mailto:database-letters@gnu.org\"><database-letters@gnu.org></a> " "also." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "Dear Representative So-and-so," msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "Congress is considering laws to establish a new kind of monopoly on " "electronic data bases. I am against the whole idea of this, because it " "would restrict the freedom of computer users. Private interests should not " "be allowed control over dissemination of facts that are public knowledge. " "As a measure to promote business, this is premature; the Internet is " "changing very fast, and passing any law about this issue in 1999 would be " "foolish." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "Multiple alternatives are being considered for this bill; HR 354 is " "especially drastic and dangerous, while HR 1858 is less so. If you have a " "chance to vote on the choice between them, please choose HR 1858. But when " "the data base monopoly bill ultimately comes up for a vote, I ask you to " "vote against it, regardless of the details." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "Sincerely," msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "Jane Q. Public" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "There exists a <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20080906221815/http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm\"> " "list of senators</a> and a service to <a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20080611003520/https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml\"> " "assist you in writing</a> to representative in the U.S. Congress [archived]." msgstr "" #. 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