Copyleft is a tool to help give everyone the right to modify and fix the software they use. It has proven effective in many situations, giving us projects like OpenWrt, and growing various FOSS communities like Linux immensely. However, copyleft is not the thing that software freedom advocates ultimately want - rather, it is one way of achieving it, and works to varying degrees depending on the copyright and other laws of the country you happen to reside in. Early writing on software freedom tended to focus on copyleft as the solution but, as we enter what many call a post-copyright age, fueled by AI startups and other dubious businesses, we need new tools to ensure that people's right to modify and fix the software they use is protected for current and future generations. This talk will explore some of the foundations of software freedom and how we can re-think the ways that these foundations are upheld through law and social norms.
Speakers: Bradley M. Kuhn