Subj : Re: GNU Public Licences Revisited (again)
To   : comp.programming
From : David Golden
Date : Sat Sep 17 2005 05:06 pm

> 
> That is garbage.  It is like saying, apropos of nothing:
> 
> <"I have never been attracted to girls older than thirteen" - Vladimir
> Nabokov>
> 
> <"Human brains are the part I like to eat most" - Thomas Harris>
> 

Both of those contain "I", now, don't they?   And neither offer advice
particularly, except indirectly perhaps.  Whereas "Beware of he who
would deny you access information, for in his heart he dreams himself
your master" is a useful general guideline, like "beware the stranger
offering you sweets if you're a little girl" or "If you're eating
somebody, the brain is particularly tasty*" - it's good advice
regardless of who says it.

(* though we now know that scoffing brains isn't without risk, of
course).

Here's the full quote, complete with fictional character attribution and
real author attribution.

"""
As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free
flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The free
nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun
its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access
to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. 
 
 Commissioner Pravin Lal 
 "U.N. Declaration of Rights"
""" - from "Alpha Centauri" by Sid Meier

> (And, as I 
> pointed out, this character was talking about an entirely different 
> subject, so your quotation was doubly a lie.) 

Copyright can deny one access to information, by definition.

.