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20
21<p><a href="#translations">Translations</a> of this page</p>
22
23<h3>The Right to Read</h3>
24<p>
25by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/"><strong>Richard Stallman</strong></a></p>
26
27<p>
28<a href="/graphics/philosophicalgnu.html"><img src="/graphics/philosophical-gnu-sm.jpg"
29 alt=" [image of a Philosophical Gnu] "
30 width="160" height="200" /></a>
31</p>
32
33<hr />
34
35<h4>Table of Contents</h4>
36<ul>
37 <li><a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html#AuthorsNote"
38 id="TOCAuthorsNote">Author's Note</a></li>
39 <li><a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html#References"
40 id="TOCReferences">References</a></li>
41 <li><a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html#OtherTexts"
42 id="TOCOtherTexts">Other Texts to Read</a></li>
43</ul>
44
45<hr />
46
47<p>
48<em>This article appeared in the February 1997 issue of <strong>Communications of the
49ACM</strong> (Volume 40, Number 2).</em></p>
50
51<blockquote><p>
52 (from "The Road To Tycho", a collection of articles
53 about the antecedents of the Lunarian Revolution,
54 published in Luna City in 2096)
55</p></blockquote>
56
57<p>
58For Dan Halbert, the road to Tycho began in college--when Lissa Lenz
59asked to borrow his computer. Hers had broken down, and unless she
60could borrow another, she would fail her midterm project. There was
61no one she dared ask, except Dan.</p>
62
63<p>
64This put Dan in a dilemma. He had to help her--but if he lent her his
65computer, she might read his books. Aside from the fact that you
66could go to prison for many years for letting someone else read your
67books, the very idea shocked him at first. Like everyone, he had been
68taught since elementary school that sharing books was nasty and
69wrong--something that only pirates would do.</p>
70
71<p>
72And there wasn't much chance that the SPA--the Software Protection
73Authority--would fail to catch him. In his software class, Dan had
74learned that each book had a copyright monitor that reported when and
75where it was read, and by whom, to Central Licensing. (They used this
76information to catch reading pirates, but also to sell personal
77interest profiles to retailers.) The next time his computer was
78networked, Central Licensing would find out. He, as computer owner,
79would receive the harshest punishment--for not taking pains to prevent
80the crime.</p>
81
82<p>
83Of course, Lissa did not necessarily intend to read his books. She
84might want the computer only to write her midterm. But Dan knew she
85came from a middle-class family and could hardly afford the tuition,
86let alone her reading fees. Reading his books might be the only way
87she could graduate. He understood this situation; he himself had had
88to borrow to pay for all the research papers he read. (10% of those
89fees went to the researchers who wrote the papers; since Dan aimed for
90an academic career, he could hope that his own research papers, if
91frequently referenced, would bring in enough to repay this loan.)</p>
92
93<p>
94Later on, Dan would learn there was a time when anyone could go to the
95library and read journal articles, and even books, without having to
96pay. There were independent scholars who read thousands of pages
97without government library grants. But in the 1990s, both commercial
98and nonprofit journal publishers had begun charging fees for access.
99By 2047, libraries offering free public access to scholarly literature
100were a dim memory.</p>
101
102<p>
103There were ways, of course, to get around the SPA and Central
104Licensing. They were themselves illegal. Dan had had a classmate in
105software, Frank Martucci, who had obtained an illicit debugging tool,
106and used it to skip over the copyright monitor code when reading
107books. But he had told too many friends about it, and one of them
108turned him in to the SPA for a reward (students deep in debt were
109easily tempted into betrayal). In 2047, Frank was in prison, not for
110pirate reading, but for possessing a debugger.</p>
111
112<p>
113Dan would later learn that there was a time when anyone could have
114debugging tools. There were even free debugging tools available on CD
115or downloadable over the net. But ordinary users started using them
116to bypass copyright monitors, and eventually a judge ruled that this
117had become their principal use in actual practice. This meant they
118were illegal; the debuggers' developers were sent to prison.</p>
119
120<p>
121Programmers still needed debugging tools, of course, but debugger
122vendors in 2047 distributed numbered copies only, and only to
123officially licensed and bonded programmers. The debugger Dan used in
124software class was kept behind a special firewall so that it could be
125used only for class exercises.</p>
126
127<p>
128It was also possible to bypass the copyright monitors by installing a
129modified system kernel. Dan would eventually find out about the free
130kernels, even entire free operating systems, that had existed around
131the turn of the century. But not only were they illegal, like
132debuggers--you could not install one if you had one, without knowing
133your computer's root password. And neither the FBI nor Microsoft
134Support would tell you that.</p>
135
136<p>
137Dan concluded that he couldn't simply lend Lissa his computer. But he
138couldn't refuse to help her, because he loved her. Every chance to
139speak with her filled him with delight. And that she chose him to ask
140for help, that could mean she loved him too.</p>
141
142<p>
143Dan resolved the dilemma by doing something even more unthinkable--he
144lent her the computer, and told her his password. This way, if Lissa
145read his books, Central Licensing would think he was reading them. It
146was still a crime, but the SPA would not automatically find out about
147it. They would only find out if Lissa reported him.</p>
148
149<p>
150Of course, if the school ever found out that he had given Lissa his
151own password, it would be curtains for both of them as students,
152regardless of what she had used it for. School policy was that any
153interference with their means of monitoring students' computer use was
154grounds for disciplinary action. It didn't matter whether you did
155anything harmful--the offense was making it hard for the
156administrators to check on you. They assumed this meant you were
157doing something else forbidden, and they did not need to know what it
158was.</p>
159
160<p>
161Students were not usually expelled for this--not directly. Instead
162they were banned from the school computer systems, and would
163inevitably fail all their classes.</p>
164
165<p>
166Later, Dan would learn that this kind of university policy started
167only in the 1980s, when university students in large numbers began
168using computers. Previously, universities maintained a different
169approach to student discipline; they punished activities that were
170harmful, not those that merely raised suspicion.</p>
171
172<p>
173Lissa did not report Dan to the SPA. His decision to help her led to
174their marriage, and also led them to question what they had been
175taught about piracy as children. The couple began reading about the
176history of copyright, about the Soviet Union and its restrictions on
177copying, and even the original United States Constitution. They moved
178to Luna, where they found others who had likewise gravitated away from
179the long arm of the SPA. When the Tycho Uprising began in 2062, the
180universal right to read soon became one of its central aims.</p>
181
182
183<h4><a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html#TOCAuthorsNote"
184 id="AuthorsNote">Author's Note</a></h4>
185
186<p>This note was updated in 2002.</p>
187
188<p>
189The right to read is a battle being fought today. Although it may
190take 50 years for our present way of life to fade into obscurity, most
191of the specific laws and practices described above have already been
192proposed; many have been enacted into law in the US and elsewhere. In
193the US, the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act established the legal
194basis to restrict the reading and lending of computerized books (and
195other data too). The European Union imposed similar restrictions in a
1962001 copyright directive.</p>
197
198<p>
199Until recently, there was one exception: the idea that the FBI and
200Microsoft will keep the root passwords for personal computers, and not
201let you have them, was not proposed until 2002. It is called "trusted
202computing" or "palladium".</p>
203
204<p>
205In 2001, Disney-funded Senator Hollings proposed a bill called the
206SSSCA that would require every new computer to have mandatory
207copy-restriction facilities that the user cannot bypass. Following
208the Clipper chip and similar US government key-escrow proposals, this
209shows a long-term trend: computer systems are increasingly set up to
210give absentees with clout control over the people actually using the
211computer system. The SSSCA has since been renamed to the CBDTPA
212(think of it as the "Consume But Don't Try Programming Act").</p>
213
214<p>
215In 2001 the US began attempting to use the proposed Free Trade Area of
216the Americas treaty to impose the same rules on all the countries in
217the Western Hemisphere. The FTAA is one of the so-called "free trade"
218treaties, actually designed to give business increased power over
219democratic governments; imposing laws like the DMCA is typical of this
220spirit. The <a href="http://www.eff.org">Electronic Frontier
221Foundation</a> asks people to explain to the other governments why
222they should oppose this plan.</p>
223
224<p>
225The SPA, which actually stands for Software Publisher's Association,
226has been replaced in this police-like role by the BSA or Business
227Software Alliance. It is not, today, an official police force;
228unofficially, it acts like one. Using methods reminiscent of the
229erstwhile Soviet Union, it invites people to inform on their coworkers
230and friends. A BSA terror campaign in Argentina in 2001 made veiled
231threats that people sharing software would be raped in prison.</p>
232
233<p>
234When this story was written, the SPA was threatening small
235Internet service providers, demanding they permit the SPA to monitor
236all users. Most ISPs surrender when threatened, because they cannot
237afford to fight back in court. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1 Oct
23896, D3.) At least one ISP, Community ConneXion in Oakland CA, refused
239the demand and was actually sued. The SPA later dropped the suit,
240but obtained the DMCA which gave them the power they sought.</p>
241
242<p>
243The university security policies described above are not imaginary.
244For example, a computer at one Chicago-area university prints this
245message when you log in (quotation marks are in the original):</p>
246
247<blockquote><p>
248"This system is for the use of authorized users only. Individuals using
249this computer system without authority or in the excess of their authority
250are subject to having all their activities on this system monitored and
251recorded by system personnel. In the course of monitoring individuals
252improperly using this system or in the course of system maintenance, the
253activities of authorized user may also be monitored. Anyone using this
254system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if such
255monitoring reveals possible evidence of illegal activity or violation of
256University regulations system personnel may provide the evidence of such
257monitoring to University authorities and/or law enforcement officials."
258</p></blockquote>
259
260<p>
261This is an interesting approach to the Fourth Amendment: pressure most
262everyone to agree, in advance, to waive their rights under it.</p>
263
264<hr />
265
266<h4><a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html#TOCReferences"
267 id="References">References</a></h4>
268
269<ul>
270 <li>The administration's "White Paper": Information Infrastructure Task
271 Force, Intellectual Property and the National Information
272 Infrastructure: The Report of the Working Group on Intellectual
273 Property Rights (1995).</li>
274
275 <li><a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.01/white.paper_pr.html">An
276 explanation of the White Paper:
277 The Copyright Grab</a>, Pamela Samuelson, Wired, Jan. 1996</li>
278
279 <li><a href="http://www.law.duke.edu/boylesite/sold_out.htm">Sold Out</a>,
280 James Boyle, New York Times, 31 March 1996</li>
281
282 <li>Public Data or Private Data, Washington Post, 4 Nov 1996. We used to have a link to this, but Washinton Post has decided to start charging users who wishes to read articles on the web site and therefore we have decided to remove the link.</li>
283
284 <li><a href="http://www.public-domain.org/">Union for the Public
285 Domain</a>--an organization which aims to resist and reverse
286 the overextension of copyright and patent powers.</li>
287</ul>
288
289<hr />
290<h4>This essay is published in <a href="/doc/book13.html"><cite>Free Software, Free Society: The Selected Essays of Richard
291M. Stallman</cite></a>.</h4>
292
293<h4><a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html#TOCOtherTexts"
294 id="OtherTexts">Other Texts to Read</a></h4>
295
296<ul>
297 <li><a href="/philosophy/philosophy.html">Philosophy of the GNU Project</a></li>
298 <li><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/opinion/story/0,10801,49358,00.html" id="COPYPROCTECTION">Copy Protection: Just Say No</a>
299 Published in Computer World.</li>
300</ul>
301
302<hr />
303
304<p>
305The <a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html#AuthorsNote">author's
306note</a> talks about the battle for the right to read and electronic
307surveillance. The battle is beginning now; here are links to two
308articles about technologies now being
309developed to deny you the right to read.</p>
310<ul>
311<li><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2324939,00.html">Electronic
312 Publishing:</a> An article about distribution of books in
313 electronic form, and copyright issues affecting the right to read a copy.</li>
314<li><a href="http://channels.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/Aug99/SeyboldPR.asp">Books
315 inside Computers:</a> Software to control who can read
316 books and documents on a PC.</li>
317</ul>
318
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324
325<div class="copyright">
326<p>
327Return to the <a href="/home.html">GNU Project home page</a>.
328</p>
329
330<p>
331Please send FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
332<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><em>gnu@gnu.org</em></a>.
333There are also <a href="/home.html#ContactInfo">other ways to contact</a>
334the FSF.
335<br />
336Please send broken links and other corrections (or suggestions) to
337<a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><em>webmasters@gnu.org</em></a>.
338</p>
339
340<p>
341Please see the
342<a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
343README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting
344translations of this article.
345</p>
346
347<p>
348Copyright 1996 Richard Stallman
349<br />
350Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is
351permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is
352preserved.
353</p>
354
355<p>
356Updated:
357<!-- timestamp start -->
358$Date: 2006/07/06 16:53:21 $ $Author: alex_muntada $
359<!-- timestamp end -->
360</p>
361</div>
362
363<div class="translations">
364<p><a id="translations"></a>
365<b>Translations of this page</b>:<br />
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380[
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382<!-- German --> <a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.de.html">de</a> |
383<!-- English --> <a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html">en</a> |
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