> I put forward the thesis that ownership of software as property is
> ultimately more harmful to society than beneficial.

I'll second that. In particular the increasing use of
patents to secure 'inovations' which are simply logical
extensions of what we are currently doing ( BT thinks it
own's the right to all hyperlinks for instance )

I think a lot of governments are now STARTING to wake up to
the fact that it may be cheaper to have their own
applications writen, that they can then use without having
to pay again on each machine. This is how I view 'Free
Software', taxing every workstation is a nice money spinner,
but why should we have to keep paying every year to do the
same job that we have been doing for the last ten years, the
application has not changed, we still have to write letters,
or create accounts!

--
Lester Caine
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L.S.Caine Electronic Services