Business overview of McDonalds and analysis

Business overview of McDonalds and analysis The UK fast food market is worth an estimated  £7.82 billion annually (Keynote, 2003), amounting to an average spend  £20/month per adult (Mcdonald, 2003). Due to busier consumer lifestyles and dual working families with children emphasis is increasingly being placed on quick meal solutions (Atkins and Bowler, 2001). This has resulted in a market growth of 19% in fast food since 1998. As the business has spread globally; giant fast food companies adapted their business strategy as well. It has invested money on research and development to strengthen their managing policies. Recently many researchers have shown interest regarding implementing change in management system of the fast food industry. They have carried out numerous observations to illuminate the darkness of this field. As the literature review helps to frame the initial focus of the study, well as to focus the data analysis (Swanson Holton1997). It also helps researchers to limit the scope of their inquiry and acts as a benchmark for comparison purposes. In this literature review, their findings and suggestions are sincerely considered for further steps of the research. According to Creswell (2003) literature reviews provide a framework for establishing the importance of the study. 2.1 An overview of McDonalds In the world of globalisation the fast food business is the most dynamic and growth orientated business. McDonalds is one of the most thriving global restaurant chains around the world. McDonalds have used effective global expansion strategies to enter new markets and gain a share of the foreign fast food market. Now McDonalds is a global scale brand. Since the start of the company in 1973, McDonalds Corporation began spreading domestically throughout the United States thus establishing its brand recognition. Its initial strategy began by advertising directly to the middle and upper class citizens, as can be seen in countries such as India and China. To meet the challenge and maintain the success McDonalds has, they had adopt may changes in their strategy, management, and operation process. The focus of the research is to reveal the elements of resistance in the current change management system both in practice and theory in MacDonalds. This chapter is organized according to the various components of resistance to change and reducing resistance with the help of human resource strategies of the organization. In England first McDonald was opened 1974 at Woolwich Southeast Station. In 35 years 1250 restaurants have reached by end of 2005 most of the traditional high streets, shopping centres, retail parks, roadside locations, leisure centres, railway and airport terminal and motorway service areas (Official website). They have different types of store like 24hrs, take away only, super store in Retail Park. There is no particular up-to-date information about how many superstore, take-a-way or airport as well as franchise restaurant in London or in specific area in UK. May be this information is only for top level management, not available for general people. New store is open every year, also some store has been relocated or even close for business policy. MacDonalds also spread its franchise business all over the world mainly in Asia. Asia is very attractive business market for McDonalds. Its now common to see MacDonalds drive to logo in many Asian major cities. Recession is also affecting the fast food industry but this situation is improving day by day. Many new menus are including attracting more customers. MacDonalds also develop policy for healthy fast food policy so campaigners cannot blame them continuously which influence general public to have MacDonalds food. 2.2. Change McDonalds has adopted many strategic and operational changes during its business cycle .Organizational theorists like Drucker (1995) stated change is a constant in all contexts. Change can be defined from an organizational development perspective. Pendlebury, J. et al (1998) demonstrated change as troublesome to organizations, and it is quite disruptive to the individual. The effect of change on individuals is significant. In many respects, it is the emotional dimension of resistance that must be managed throughout the life of the change event. Vigorous emotions can be removed through the process of change within organizations. In fact, scholars argue that every act or event of change will draw some type of resistance resistance that will clear itself in emotions such as fear and anger, denial, avoidance, and resistance. Change can be so disturbing that even individuals directly unaffected by a change initiative can be affected through survivor guilt. According to Noer (1997) survivor guilt or sickness may be experienced by individuals indirectly affected by change and may serve as a significant source of resistance for individuals. 2.2.1. Forces of change Change depends on two forces, which could be external and internal forces. If managers, employees or organisations think about these forces, than they can implement on change successfully. The forces for change are: Internal Forces Human resource prospects (Unmet needs, Job dissatisfaction, Absenteeism and staff turnover Productivity Participation) Managerial decisions. Managerial decisions (Conflict, Leadership, Reward system, Structural reorganisation) the needs for the change. (Bullens, et al 2006). External Forces Change is initiated via external sources such as cultural and political factors. In short, additional external factors like globalizing markets, technology, politics, and communications are all sources of change (Nadler, 1997). Social Change There is lots of pressure from many health concern organisations, doctors association, consumer association even government health institution for the food type and food value of McDonalds restaurant. Many scientific statistics has been published on different media about the quality and nutrition value of Macs food. Even UN organisation W.H.O (World Health Organisation) also comments negatively against fast food. Macs mainly targeted customers are children and teenagers rather professional and elderly people. McDonalds always face different social challenge from internal as well as external sources. But they try to maintain highest possible hygiene and safe way to make and serve the food as well as plan to mention the food values for each item which help all the consumers to know the nutrition value of the food. Technological Change Technological change in the organisation is critical, for three primary reasons. 1- Competitors use technology as part of major success strategies. 2- Technology driven is everywhere and always present. 3- Value capture from new technology is challenging and never guaranteed. Source: Ettlie,J (2000) Most of the time, we hold technology as a constant, because its convenient. The more change in technology of products, services, and operations, the more change in administrative procedures, new strategies, new organisational structures, and new operating procedures will be required to successfully capture the potential benefits of the venture. The failure of technological change typically occurs when either too much technology is adopted too quickly or not enough technology is adopted to stay ahead of competitors. Nadler (1997) argue strongly for the case of new technologies and new markets. Jick (1995) identifies competition and the aspirations to gain and maintain competitive advantage a key Impetus for change. Economical Change McDonalds has the tendency to experience hardship in instances where the economy of the country is hit by inflation and changes in the exchange rates. **The current recession also put them struggling. The high store maintenance cost in major cities like London, New York, Tokyo etc. is very expensive. For the recession people try to eat home to save money even MacDonalds offers food is the cheapest than other competitors. The low sales impact on store profit which also related to all kind of necessary expenditure. Another factor is the maintaining the food preparation and service standard for MacDonalds food which is prime concern for them to establish the hygiene and safety issue for the people health. If MacDonalds charge high price of their food to maintain store standard they will definitely loose target customer and most valuable reputation. Still they are in market leader position. Economical chance has great influence on MacDonalds business. Political Change Government can implement some bindings on the advertisement of McDonalds because of the high cholesterol, obesity and some other health problem. They also control the licence as we mentioned earlier in social change that MacDonalds have many legal bindings from different level of government and non-government organisation. Political change of a country has also affect MacDonalds business. As health issue is one of the prime concerns of the respective government, if any political change occurs the health policy can also change. The very practical example in UK conservative government will change the health policy of the previous labour government. MacDonalds must track the relevant information by which their business can be affected. In other case marketing can also affected by political change. Sometimes, social crisis influence to raise the public issue politically. Like obesity in the western world is an important discussion topic in heath area. Government regulates the advertising to focus this concern so that people awareness will increases about the obesity. MacDonalds must accommodate with this policy in all its marketing campaigns. Culture Culture examines societys values, norms, believes, symbols. Organisational culture, is the concept to analyse that the organisation can be very useful for focusing on the more behavioural and attitudinal aspects of the organisational life. Organisational culture is the social aspects of our employing organisations. Scheins (1985) developed the following typology for cultural analysis The organisations relationship to its environment (belief that relate to the broader environment) The nature of the human activity (beliefs about what the core activity of the business should be) The nature of the reality and truth The nature of human nature (beliefs about what people are like) The nature of human relationships (beliefs are about how people should relate to one another both hierarchically and horizontally) Homogeneity versus diversity (beliefs about similar or diverse the workforce should be) (Ellis Dick 2003). According to Schein (2004) culture change certainly involves unlearning as well as relearning and is therefore, by definition, transformative thus: Schein (2004) also suggested learning leaders must be well connected to those parts of the organization that are themselves well connected to the environment-the sales organization, purchasing, marketing, public relations, legal, finance, and RD must be able to listen to disconfirming information coming from these sources and to assess the implications for the future of the organization. The Wider Environment Social Values Demographics Task Environment Customers and markets Economy Technology Suppliers of Inputs Competitors For markets For resources Regulatory groups The Firm Process Factor What is done (task) How things are done (technology) People factors Workforce diversity Workforce Behaviour Figure 2.1: Triggers to change. Corlett,Forster, (2004), 2.3. Theories of change management There are many change models that are used to aid experts in implementing change. These models can be broken down into two types of change theories that organizations can use: radical and incremental. Within each of these approaches there are various models and processes. 2.3.1 Radical vs Incremental change Radical change approaches include, but are not limited to, six sigma, quality function deployment, and re-engineering. Radical change models are used to jump-start an organization and are also used when a culture change is required. In 1994, Dyer explain radical change , In a conventionally Midwestern family business atmosphere, change is likely to be more heavily resisted than in other organizations because the feelings adjacent to the change tend to be deeper and more intense, and previous research shows that family values, goals, and relations deeply influence strategic change in family-oriented firms . A review of the literature Senge (1990) reflects the need for organizations to be able to continuously adjust as well as to allow for learning to take place. Incremental change approaches include, but are not limited to, Kurt Lewins model, Beckhards change model, Kotters transformation model, and the Bridges transition model. Incremental change models are related with improving the existing system and operate within the current business model. All these models have a stage of unfreezing of the current behavior, a change being introduced, and a stage of refreezing the new behavior, or else they begin with the identification of the current state, the desired state, and the blocks and barriers that exist between the two. Cummings and Worley, (2001) state that Kurt Lewins three-stage change model is the root of change management. Lewins change model consisting of the following steps: 1) unfreezing the old behaviour (or situation), 2) moving to a new level of behaviour, and 3) refreezing, the behaviour at the new level. Lewin viewed the change process as a fundamental alteration or change in the forces that kept a system in stasis. According to Lewin, an organization will go through the process of making preparations for change, developing the force for change, implementing change, and then will strive to re-establish stability or reach stasis. Unfreeze Change Refreeze Figure 2.2 Kurt Lewins three-stage change model of change. Adopted from Cummings and Worley, (2001) According to Van de Ven and Poole (1995) Organizational change is an empirical observation in an organizational entity of variations in shape, quality or state over time. Kaestle (1990) states in A New Rationale for Organizational Structure, that there are fundamentally two drivers for organizational change: 1) a dynamic marketplace and, 2) information technology. 2.3.2 Conditions for change According to Kotter (1996) certain conditions need to be met in order to bring about effective change. These conditions on what is known to contribute to the failure of change efforts. 2.3.3 People involved in change Kotter also states that producing change is about 80% leadership (establishing direction, aligning, and motivating and inspiring people) and about 20% management (planning, budgeting, organizing, and problem-solving). In most change efforts he has studied, the percentages have been reversed. While there are some examples of successful change efforts, so leadership or management works as a change agent within the organization. According to Vago (1999) in a planned change effort, change agents are professionals who influence and implement the change; they are critical to the success of a change effort. Recent studies indicate that static change models are being replaced with dynamic change models that reflect the discontinuous nature of organizational change. In other words, change does not occur at a steady rate even though in the past organizational theory has written about steady or static models. 2.3.4 People in change Schein (2004) also suggested learning leaders must be well connected to those parts of the organization that are themselves well connected to the environment-the sales organization, purchasing, marketing, public relations, legal, finance, and RD must be able to listen to disconfirming information coming from these sources and to assess the implications for the future of the organization. 2.3.5. The modern version of Lewins theory Neito (2006) described the graceful tools of Lewins theory is the critical analysis if it is to be helpful to HR professionals. To start by means of, it is affective and how easy to get the agreement of employees regarding a change process. Even though if the change is important, but people will not accept the change easily, thats way the first stage Unfreezing takes more time rather than other stages. Next process is Change, this process will be by itself, but this process should be managed properly. If this process is managed properly there are incentives and benefits (easy wins) during the change process, end of the day this process will give the positive support. Finally, the last stage is Refreezing which is a process of that stabilizes the change, which has been done. Human resource strategies are influenced by external and internal factors. Change successful depends on the concern and growth on the employee relations and interpersonal relationships. Human resource professionals should consider the change processes are likely to meet resistance and that is more efficient to consult with staff and expand teamwork than to oblige changes. Present workers should therefore invest in special development to enhance their long term employability.(Neito,M 2006) To understand the process and the nature of change in the organization, it is important to understand how organization works in the complex environment of external and internal forces. According to Hayes. J (2007) open structure theory predicts that changes to any one of the internal and external elements of an organisations will source changes to other fundamentals. Hayes. J (2007) adopts from Kotter (1980) the integrative model of organisational dynamics. Recent theorists have considered change according to developmental change, transitional change, and transformational change (Anderson Ackerman-Anderson, 2001). The six main elements in Kotters model are: External environment, based on the direct task related environment and the wider environment (which includes the political system, economical system etc). Employees and other tangible assets, as well as building cash and all other stuff and inventories. Formal organisational arrangements which system is operating and job design Social system, which is based on organisations culture and social structure. Technology is the main product of the organisation. Dominant coalition Goals, strategies of those who control to make the plane. According to Hayes.J (2007) adaptability is very important because it determines whether the organisation will be able or not to maintain the require degree of alignment over the long period. For the long period, the main purpose of change management needs to be ensuring, that the structural basics of the organisation are as adaptable. Key organisational processes Information gathering Communication Decision making Matter energy transportation Matter energy conversion Formal organisational Dominant coalition External environment Technology, methods Social system culture Employees and tangibleaaaa assets Source of potential behaviour and constraint Impact on Figure: 2.4 Source: Hayes,J.(2007) The theory and Practice of Change Management ,2nd ed, p-47, palgrave Macmillan. 2.3.6. Force Field Tool Force Field Tool is the pioneer tool for change management; the tool was developed by Kurt Lewin. Schein (2002) explain Kurt Lewin tool, how change is influenced by two opposing factors driving and restraining forces that work against each other to sustain a state of stability .At the same time as driving forces uphold change, restraining forces resist the driving forces and thus hold back change. When these forces are balanced, a state of quasi-stationary equilibrium is achieved. Equilibrium Driving forces ( Restraining forces Figure2.3: Lewins Force Field Theory The term quasi-stationary equilibrium was used by Schein (2002) to describe the stable routine of day-to-day activity, rather than just equilibrium which implies a state of rest . According to Schein (2002) Any living system is always in a state of some change (growth, metamorphosis, or decline), but all systems are homeostatic in that they always tend toward some kind of equilibrium (p. 35). To explain the quasi-stationary state, Lewin used the analogy of a river flowing at the same velocity and direction over time. Although the river is not at rest, it flows consistently at the same rate and thus is stable. A shift in velocity or direction, however, would constitute a change. To bring about change, either driving forces need to be added or restraining forces must be diminished. According to Schein (2002) adding more driving forces is likely to be paralleled by higher aggressiveness, higher emotionality, and lower constructiveness than if restraining forces were reduced; therefore, the latter is a more desirable course of action. In addition, adding driving forces is likely to result in new restraining forces as people try to maintain a state of quasi-stationary equilibrium. In this study, force field theory provided the theoretical framework for the variable of resistance to change in that it posited the tendency for groups to maintain a state of stability with restraining forces (i.e. resistance) resulting when driving forces that promote change are introduced. 2.3.7. A congruence model of organisations A substitute open system model, planned by Nadler and Tushman (1982) point out the effect of the congruency of the elements of the organisation, and shows the effectiveness on the organisation. Additionally, it puts more pressure, on the role of strategy, because any organisation based on the strategy as well. Congruence model depends on the four classes of input: Environment: Environment as well as based on wider culture, within which the organisation operates, thats the backbone of the organisation. Environment is a part of financial institutions, supplies, markets and it is the overall system of the organisation, which is based on the external and internal environment of the organisation. Environment provides the strength and opportunities that the organisation has to compete with. Resources: Resources like as raw material, liquid capital, labour, technologies. History: History is very important for the organisation, because past strategic decisions and development of central part values and patterns of leadership can affect the present model of organisation. Strategy: This input gives the direction how the organisations resources can be used to be the advantage in relation to the opportunities, and demands of the environment. Successful organisations are those that are able to support themselves with the help of external environment and move themselves to take advantage of any environmental changes. Nadler and Tushman (1982) argue that strategy defines the task of the organisation. Strategy is effective to the organisations behavioural system. They recommend that the goals of strategy measure the organisations performance. Nadler and Tushman(1982) define the major components of the transformation process as: a- Task, can be viewed in terms of obstacle, predictability, interdependence a skill demands. b- Individuals, those are the members of the organisation and their reaction capabilities, intelligence, experience, training, skills, attitudes, expectations etc. c- Formal organisational performance that include all the mechanisms used by the organisation to direct, control behaviour or formation. d- Informal organisation, as well as informal group structures, the quality of inter-group relations, political processes, etc. Transformation process x Informal organisation Individual Task Formal organisation Organisation Group, Individual Environment Resources, History Inputs Outputs Strategy Feedback Figure: 2.5 Source: Hayes,J.(2007) The theory and Practice of Change Management 2nd ed, p-52,palgrave Macmillan. Like Kotter, Nadler and Tushman argue that any useful model of organisations must go beyond only providing a simple sketch of the tools of the organisation and consider the dynamic relationships that exist between the various tools. They define congruence as the degree to those the needs, goals, objectives and structures of any one tool of the organisation are reliable with the needs. Their general theory is that, other things equal, the greater the total degree of congruence between the different tools the more efficient will be the organisations behaviour. Figure 2.5 summarises the congruence model and the bold double headed arrows specify the six fits between the components of the transformation process (the internal organisation) These are: (a) Individual Formal organisations for example to what extents are individual needs met by the formal organisational arrangements? (b) Individual Task for example, to what extent do individuals have the skills required to meet task demands and to what extent do the tasks satisfy individual needs? (c) Individual informal organisation for example, to what extent does the informal organisation satisfy the needs of individuals or make best use of their talents? (d) Task formal organisation for example, to what level are the formal organisational arrangements enough to meet the demands of the task? (e) Task informal organisation for example, to what point does the informal organisation make sure to task performance? (f) Formal informal organisation for example, to what level are the goals, rewards and structures of the informal organisation reliable with those of the formal organisation? Mostly tools that Nadler and Tushman desire to focus on are different to those that figure in kotters model. All models are overview of the real world, and the usefulness of the particular model, in the context of the change management. Schneider state in the book of john Hayes, Internal and external alignment promotes organisational effectiveness because the various elements of the system strengthen rather than upset each other, thereby minimising the loss of system energy and resources. 2.4. Defining resistance to change Resistance to change is not rigorously related to organizations management and leadership. It is a problem embedded in the very nature of its organizational members. In any case, resistance to change is a significant factor that must be understood in the organizational context. Examples of resistance may include, refusal to work, riots (in extreme cases). On the other hand the employees can demonstrate contentment with change, a happier performance at work and a general consensus that the change was beneficial to the restaurant. Individuals can arrive at a psychological state where major change can no longer be absorbed. According to psychologists, change can trigger emotional experiences such as depression, mania, irritability, anger, disturbing or obsessive thoughts. According to Conner (1998) the main sources of individual resistance to change are: lack of trust, commitment to the status quo, belief that the change is not feasible, economic threats, relative high costs, loss of status and power, and threats to values and ideals. Tushman and OReilly (1997), state that despite the inevitability of change and its necessity for survival, it presents serious dilemmas to anyone serious about the notion of change. Change is disruptive to organizations. That is undeniable. Change is not helpful to an environment of stability; it precipitates more and more disruption wooing business leaders to a critical deadlock. One cannot have both stability and change; they are conflicting forces. Pascal, R et el (1997), state, findings from surveys confirm that executives have begun to give renewal a high priorityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.however, most of their efforts to achieve it have met with frustration partly because large organizations have such a remarkable capacity to resist change of all kinds. 2.4.1. Sources of resistance in the implementation stage According to Klein and Sorra (1996) implementation of any change in the organization is the significant step between the decision to change and the regular use of it at the organization. In implementation stage more resistance groups can be found. The main resistance is with political and cultural locks to change. It consists of: Implementation climate and relation between change values and organizational values, considering that a strong implementation climate when the values relation is negative will result in resistance and opposition to change and forgetfulness of the social dimension of changes ( Schalk et al., 1998). Last but not least, a set of five sources of resistance with different characteristics are according to Rumelt (1995): leadership inaction, sometimes because leaders are afraid of uncertainty, sometimes for fear of changing the status quo ;embedded routines ;collective action problems, specially dealing with the difficulty to decide who is going to move first or how to deal with free-extruders ,ask of the necessary capabilities to implement change capabilities gap and cynicism. 2.4.2. Sources of resistance in the formulation stage of change To understand resistance in the process of change in any organization, we need to focuses on the very fast formulation stage of change. It includes: inability of the company to look into the future with clarity. According to Morrison and Milliken (2000) organizational silence, which limits the information flow with individuals who do not express their thoughts, meaning that decisions are made without all the necessary information. Denial or refusal to accept any information that is not expected or desired ( Rumelt, 1995). Low motivation for change, sources are: Direct costs of change, is the cost of change that brings success to a product but at the same time brings losses to others, so it requires some sort of sacrifice. According to Rumelt (1995) the need for a change is compensated through the high rents obtained without change with another different factor, so that there is no real motivation for change. According to Lorenzo (2000) past failures, leave a pessimistic image for future changes. Waddell and Sohal (1998) identified different interests among employees and management, or lack of motivation of employees who value change results less than managers value them). 2.5. Kotter and Schlesingers Choosing Strategies Choosing Strategies for Change an article of Kotter and Schlesingers (1979) explain causes for resistance to change. Organizations frequently experience employees resistance when change is introduced.

The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me

â€Å"The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me† Reading â€Å"The Joy of reading and Writing: Superman and Me,† gave me a different perspective of reading and writing. Sherman Alexie, who grew up on the Spokane Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, explains his life as an Indian boy, and how reading and writing helped his life to succeed. Alexie purposes is to discuss how he first learned how to read and write, his intelligence as a young Indian boy, and Alexie as an adult teaching creative writing to Indians children. Alexie learned not only how to read but to love reading. He used his love of reading to propel himself through the school system, removing himself from the stereotypical to be dumb, quiet, poor, and to fail in life. Alexie begins his essay with a self confidence tone. Alexie, while growing in the Indian Reservation, at the age of three he learned how to read by using Superman comics. Alexie taught himself how to read the comic books by looking at the pictures and dialogue and pretending to say aloud what he thinks the story might be saying. I look at the narrative above the picture. I cannot read the words, but I assume it tells me that Superman is breaking down the door. Aloud, I pretend to read the words and say, Superman is breaking down the door† (14). Alexie learned quickly how to read while many other Indian kids struggled to read basic words and vocabulary. â€Å"He reads Grapes of Wrath in kindergarten when other children are struggling through Dick and Jane† (15 ). After Alexie established his self confidence tone, Alexie shows his determination tone. Indian children were stereotypically supposed to fail in the classroom and most did. Indian boys who fail were accepted; those who did not were not accepted. Alexie was smart and he refused to fail, he never got intimidated, he always participated with the non-Indian peers in class. â€Å"I fought with my classmates on a daily basis. They wanted me to stay quiet when non-Indian teacher asked for answers, for volunteers, for help† (15). Alexie loved to read, he read everything he possible could, even if they were not books. Alexie wanted to be educated and refused to fail. â€Å"I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky† (15). Alexie’s tone at end of the essay, he was proud and surprised of himself because he became a writer. Becoming a writer, Alexie started to write books for children and he started to teach creative writing at Indian Schools. Alexie is proud because he has the opportunity to help other Indian kids to succeed in life. â€Å"These days, I write novels, short stories, and poems. I visit schools and teach creative writing to Indian kids† (15). Most of the children in the Reservation read his books and write their own poems, and that makes Alexie proud of himself. But there are some of the children that who have already given up hope on themselves and sit in the back of the classroom and do not care anything for reading and writing. â€Å"Then there are the sullen and already defeated Indian kids who sit in the back rows and ignore me with theatrical precision† (16). Alexie is trying to break down their locked doors, and he is trying to save their lives by teaching them to read and write. Alexie refused to fail, instead he read different kind of books and he became strong reader and a smart Indian. Alexie read everything and everywhere he went. This is probably one of the reasons Alexie never fail in school and his succeed life, because he loved to learn. He also committed to help other Indian in the Reservation by helping them to learn how to read and write. Alexie purpose was to try to save their lives. â€Å"I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives† (16).

Why Software Should Be Free

Why Software Should Be Free by Richard Stallman (Version of April 24, 1992) Introduction The existence of software inevitably raises the question of how decisions about its use should be made. For example, suppose one individual who has a copy of a program meets another who would like a copy. It is possible for them to copy the program; who should decide whether this is done? The individuals involved? Or another party, called the â€Å"owner†? Software developers typically consider these questions on the assumption that the criterion for the answer is to maximize developers' profits.The political power of business has led to the government adoption of both this criterion and the answer proposed by the developers: that the program has an owner, typically a corporation associated with its development. I would like to consider the same question using a different criterion: the prosperity and freedom of the public in general. This answer cannot be decided by current law–the law should conform to ethics, not the other way around. Nor does current practice decide this question, although it may suggest possible answers.The only way to judge is to see who is helped and who is hurt by recognizing owners of software, why, and how much. In other words, we should perform a cost-benefit analysis on behalf of society as a whole, taking account of individual freedom as well as production of material goods. In this essay, I will describe the effects of having owners, and show that the results are detrimental. My conclusion is that programmers have the duty to encourage others to share, redistribute, study, and improve the software we write: in other words, to write â€Å"free† software. 1) How Owners Justify Their Power Those who benefit from the current system where programs are property offer two arguments in support of their claims to own programs: the emotional argument and the economic argument. The emotional argument goes like this: â€Å"I put my s weat, my heart, my soul into this program. It comes from me, it's mine! † This argument does not require serious refutation. The feeling of attachment is one that programmers can cultivate when it suits them; it is not inevitable. Consider, for example, how willingly the same programmers sually sign over all rights to a large corporation for a salary; the emotional attachment mysteriously vanishes. By contrast, consider the great artists and artisans of medieval times, who didn't even sign their names to their work. To them, the name of the artist was not important. What mattered was that the work was done–and the purpose it would serve. This view prevailed for hundreds of years. The economic argument goes like this: â€Å"I want to get rich (usually described inaccurately as `making a living'), and if you don't allow me to get rich by programming, then I won't program.Everyone else is like me, so nobody will ever program. And then you'll be stuck with no programs at a ll! † This threat is usually veiled as friendly advice from the wise. I'll explain later why this threat is a bluff. First I want to address an implicit assumption that is more visible in another formulation of the argument. This formulation starts by comparing the social utility of a proprietary program with that of no program, and then concludes that proprietary software development is, on the whole, beneficial, and should be encouraged.The fallacy here is in comparing only two outcomes–proprietary software vs. no software–and assuming there are no other possibilities. Given a system of software copyright, software development is usually linked with the existence of an owner who controls the software's use. As long as this linkage exists, we are often faced with the choice of proprietary software or none. However, this linkage is not inherent or inevitable; it is a consequence of the specific social/legal policy decision that we are questioning: the decision to have owners.To formulate the choice as between proprietary software vs. no software is begging the question. The Argument against Having Owners The question at hand is, â€Å"Should development of software be linked with having owners to restrict the use of it? † In order to decide this, we have to judge the effect on society of each of those two activities independently: the effect of developing the software (regardless of its terms of distribution), and the effect of restricting its use (assuming the software has been developed).If one of these activities is helpful and the other is harmful, we would be better off dropping the linkage and doing only the helpful one. To put it another way, if restricting the distribution of a program already developed is harmful to society overall, then an ethical software developer will reject the option of doing so. To determine the effect of restricting sharing, we need to compare the value to society of a restricted (i. e. , proprietary ) program with that of the same program, available to everyone. This means comparing two possible worlds.This analysis also addresses the simple counterargument sometimes made that â€Å"the benefit to the neighbor of giving him or her a copy of a program is cancelled by the harm done to the owner. † This counterargument assumes that the harm and the benefit are equal in magnitude. The analysis involves comparing these magnitudes, and shows that the benefit is much greater. To elucidate this argument, let's apply it in another area: road construction. It would be possible to fund the construction of all roads with tolls.This would entail having toll booths at all street corners. Such a system would provide a great incentive to improve roads. It would also have the virtue of causing the users of any given road to pay for that road. However, a toll booth is an artificial obstruction to smooth driving-artificial, because it is not a consequence of how roads or cars work. Compari ng free roads and toll roads by their usefulness, we find that (all else being equal) roads without toll booths are cheaper to construct, cheaper to run, safer, and more efficient to use. 2) In a poor country, tolls may make the roads unavailable to many citizens. The roads without toll booths thus offer more benefit to society at less cost; they are preferable for society. Therefore, society should choose to fund roads in another way, not by means of toll booths. Use of roads, once built, should be free. When the advocates of toll booths propose them as merely a way of raising funds, they distort the choice that is available. Toll booths do raise funds, but they do something else as well: in effect, they degrade the road.The toll road is not as good as the free road; giving us more or technically superior roads may not be an improvement if this means substituting toll roads for free roads. Of course, the construction of a free road does cost money, which the public must somehow pay . However, this does not imply the inevitability of toll booths. We who must in either case pay will get more value for our money by buying a free road. I am not saying that a toll road is worse than no road at all. That would be true if the toll were so great that hardly anyone used the road–but this is an unlikely policy for a toll collector.However, as long as the toll booths cause significant waste and inconvenience, it is better to raise the funds in a less obstructive fashion. To apply the same argument to software development, I will now show that having â€Å"toll booths† for useful software programs costs society dearly: it makes the programs more expensive to construct, more expensive to distribute, and less satisfying and efficient to use. It will follow that program construction should be encouraged in some other way. Then I will go on to explain other methods of encouraging and (to the extent actually necessary) funding software development.The Harm Done b y Obstructing Software Consider for a moment that a program has been developed, and any necessary payments for its development have been made; now society must choose either to make it proprietary or allow free sharing and use. Assume that the existence of the program and its availability is a desirable thing. (3) Restrictions on the distribution and modification of the program cannot facilitate its use. They can only interfere. So the effect can only be negative. But how much? And what kind? Three different levels of material harm come from such obstruction: †¢ †¢ †¢ Fewer people use the program.None of the users can adapt or fix the program. Other developers cannot learn from the program, or base new work on it. Each level of material harm has a concomitant form of psychosocial harm. This refers to the effect that people's decisions have on their subsequent feelings, attitudes, and predispositions. These changes in people's ways of thinking will then have a further effect on their relationships with their fellow citizens, and can have material consequences. The three levels of material harm waste part of the value that the program could contribute, but they cannot reduce it to zero.If they waste nearly all the value of the program, then writing the program harms society by at most the effort that went into writing the program. Arguably a program that is profitable to sell must provide some net direct material benefit. However, taking account of the concomitant psychosocial harm, there is no limit to the harm that proprietary software development can do. Obstructing Use of Programs The first level of harm impedes the simple use of a program. A copy of a program has nearly zero marginal cost (and you can pay this cost by doing the work yourself), so in a free market, it would have nearly zero price.A license fee is a significant disincentive to use the program. If a widely-useful program is proprietary, far fewer people will use it. It is easy t o show that the total contribution of a program to society is reduced by assigning an owner to it. Each potential user of the program, faced with the need to pay to use it, may choose to pay, or may forego use of the program. When a user chooses to pay, this is a zero-sum transfer of wealth between two parties. But each time someone chooses to forego use of the program, this harms that person without benefitting anyone. The sum of negative numbers and zeros must be negative.But this does not reduce the amount of work it takes to develop the program. As a result, the efficiency of the whole process, in delivered user satisfaction per hour of work, is reduced. This reflects a crucial difference between copies of programs and cars, chairs, or sandwiches. There is no copying machine for material objects outside of science fiction. But programs are easy to copy; anyone can produce as many copies as are wanted, with very little effort. This isn't true for material objects because matter i s conserved: each new copy has to be built from raw materials in the same way that the first copy was built.With material objects, a disincentive to use them makes sense, because fewer objects bought means less raw material and work needed to make them. It's true that there is usually also a startup cost, a development cost, which is spread over the production run. But as long as the marginal cost of production is significant, adding a share of the development cost does not make a qualitative difference. And it does not require restrictions on the freedom of ordinary users. However, imposing a price on something that would otherwise be free is a qualitative change.A centrally-imposed fee for software distribution becomes a powerful disincentive. What's more, central production as now practiced is inefficient even as a means of delivering copies of software. This system involves enclosing physical disks or tapes in superfluous packaging, shipping large numbers of them around the worl d, and storing them for sale. This cost is presented as an expense of doing business; in truth, it is part of the waste caused by having owners. Damaging Social Cohesion Suppose that both you and your neighbor would find it useful to run a certain program.In ethical concern for your neighbor, you should feel that proper handling of the situation will enable both of you to use it. A proposal to permit only one of you to use the program, while restraining the other, is divisive; neither you nor your neighbor should find it acceptable. Signing a typical software license agreement means betraying your neighbor: â€Å"I promise to deprive my neighbor of this program so that I can have a copy for myself. † People who make such choices feel internal psychological pressure to justify them, by downgrading the importance of helping one's neighbors–thus public spirit suffers.This is psychosocial harm associated with the material harm of discouraging use of the program. Many users unconsciously recognize the wrong of refusing to share, so they decide to ignore the licenses and laws, and share programs anyway. But they often feel guilty about doing so. They know that they must break the laws in order to be good neighbors, but they still consider the laws authoritative, and they conclude that being a good neighbor (which they are) is naughty or shameful. That is also a kind of psychosocial harm, but one can escape it by deciding that these licenses and laws have no moral force.Programmers also suffer psychosocial harm knowing that many users will not be allowed to use their work. This leads to an attitude of cynicism or denial. A programmer may describe enthusiastically the work that he finds technically exciting; then when asked, â€Å"Will I be permitted to use it? †, his face falls, and he admits the answer is no. To avoid feeling discouraged, he either ignores this fact most of the time or adopts a cynical stance designed to minimize the importance of it. Since the age of Reagan, the greatest scarcity in the United States is not technical innovation, but rather the willingness to work together for the public good.It makes no sense to encourage the former at the expense of the latter. Obstructing Custom Adaptation of Programs The second level of material harm is the inability to adapt programs. The ease of modification of software is one of its great advantages over older technology. But most commercially available software isn't available for modification, even after you buy it. It's available for you to take it or leave it, as a black box–that is all. A program that you can run consists of a series of numbers whose meaning is obscure. No one, not even a good programmer, can easily change the numbers o make the program do something different. Programmers normally work with the â€Å"source code† for a program, which is written in a programming language such as Fortran or C. It uses names to designate the data bei ng used and the parts of the program, and it represents operations with symbols such as `+' for addition and `-‘ for subtraction. It is designed to help programmers read and change programs. Here is an example; a program to calculate the distance between two points in a plane: float distance (p0, p1) struct point p0, p1; { float xdist = p1. x – p0. x; float ydist = p1. y – p0. ; return sqrt (xdist * xdist + ydist * ydist); } Here is the same program in executable form, on the computer I normally use: 1314258944 1411907592 -234880989 1644167167 572518958 -232267772 -231844736 -234879837 -3214848 -803143692 -231844864 2159150 -234879966 1090581031 1314803317 1634862 1420296208 -232295424 1962942495 Source code is useful (at least potentially) to every user of a program. But most users are not allowed to have copies of the source code. Usually the source code for a proprietary program is kept secret by the owner, lest anybody else learn something from it.Users recei ve only the files of incomprehensible numbers that the computer will execute. This means that only the program's owner can change the program. A friend once told me of working as a programmer in a bank for about six months, writing a program similar to something that was commercially available. She believed that if she could have gotten source code for that commercially available program, it could easily have been adapted to their needs. The bank was willing to pay for this, but was not permitted to–the source code was a secret.So she had to do six months of make-work, work that counts in the GNP but was actually waste. The MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab (AI Lab) received a graphics printer as a gift from Xerox around 1977. It was run by free software to which we added many convenient features. For example, the software would notify a user immediately on completion of a print job. Whenever the printer had trouble, such as a paper jam or running out of paper, the software wou ld immediately notify all users who had print jobs queued. These features facilitated smooth operation.Later Xerox gave the AI Lab a newer, faster printer, one of the first laser printers. It was driven by proprietary software that ran in a separate dedicated computer, so we couldn't add any of our favorite features. We could arrange to send a notification when a print job was sent to the dedicated computer, but not when the job was actually printed (and the delay was usually considerable). There was no way to find out when the job was actually printed; you could only guess. And no one was informed when there was a paper jam, so the printer often went for an hour without being fixed.The system programmers at the AI Lab were capable of fixing such problems, probably as capable as the original authors of the program. Xerox was uninterested in fixing them, and chose to prevent us, so we were forced to accept the problems. They were never fixed. Most good programmers have experienced th is frustration. The bank could afford to solve the problem by writing a new program from scratch, but a typical user, no matter how skilled, can only give up. Giving up causes psychosocial harm–to the spirit of self-reliance. It is demoralizing to live in a house that you cannot rearrange to suit your needs.It leads to resignation and discouragement, which can spread to affect other aspects of one's life. People who feel this way are unhappy and do not do good work. Imagine what it would be like if recipes were hoarded in the same fashion as software. You might say, â€Å"How do I change this recipe to take out the salt? † and the great chef would respond, â€Å"How dare you insult my recipe, the child of my brain and my palate, by trying to tamper with it? You don't have the judgment to change my recipe and make it work right! † â€Å"But my doctor says I'm not supposed to eat salt! What can I do? Will you take out the salt for me? ‘ â€Å"I would be gl ad to do that; my fee is only $50,000. † Since the owner has a monopoly on changes, the fee tends to be large. â€Å"However, right now I don't have time. I am busy with a commission to design a new recipe for ship's biscuit for the Navy Department. I might get around to you in about two years. † Obstructing Software Development The third level of material harm affects software development. Software development used to be an evolutionary process, where a person would take an existing program and rewrite parts of it for one new feature, and then another person would rewrite parts to add nother feature; in some cases, this continued over a period of twenty years. Meanwhile, parts of the program would be â€Å"cannibalized† to form the beginnings of other programs. The existence of owners prevents this kind of evolution, making it necessary to start from scratch when developing a program. It also prevents new practitioners from studying existing programs to learn us eful techniques or even how large programs can be structured. Owners also obstruct education. I have met bright students in computer science who have never seen the source code of a large program.They may be good at writing small programs, but they can't begin to learn the different skills of writing large ones if they can't see how others have done it. In any intellectual field, one can reach greater heights by standing on the shoulders of others. But that is no longer generally allowed in the software field–you can only stand on the shoulders of the other people in your own company. The associated psychosocial harm affects the spirit of scientific cooperation, which used to be so strong that scientists would cooperate even when their countries were at war.In this spirit, Japanese oceanographers abandoning their lab on an island in the Pacific carefully preserved their work for the invading U. S. Marines, and left a note asking them to take good care of it. Conflict for prof it has destroyed what international conflict spared. Nowadays scientists in many fields don't publish enough in their papers to enable others to replicate the experiment. They publish only enough to let readers marvel at how much they were able to do. This is certainly true in computer science, where the source code for the programs reported on is usually secret.It Does Not Matter How Sharing Is Restricted I have been discussing the effects of preventing people from copying, changing, and building on a program. I have not specified how this obstruction is carried out, because that doesn't affect the conclusion. Whether it is done by copy protection, or copyright, or licenses, or encryption, or ROM cards, or hardware serial numbers, if it succeeds in preventing use, it does harm. Users do consider some of these methods more obnoxious than others. I suggest that the methods most hated are those that accomplish their objective.Software Should be Free I have shown how ownership of a pro gram–the power to restrict changing or copying it–is obstructive. Its negative effects are widespread and important. It follows that society shouldn't have owners for programs. Another way to understand this is that what society needs is free software, and proprietary software is a poor substitute. Encouraging the substitute is not a rational way to get what we need. Vaclav Havel has advised us to â€Å"Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. ‘ A business making proprietary software stands a chance of success in its own narrow terms, but it is not what is good for society. Why People Will Develop Software If we eliminate copyright as a means of encouraging people to develop software, at first less software will be developed, but that software will be more useful. It is not clear whether the overall delivered user satisfaction will be less; but if it is, or if we wish to increase it anyway, there are other ways to en courage development, just as there are ways besides toll booths to raise money for streets.Before I talk about how that can be done, first I want to question how much artificial encouragement is truly necessary. Programming is Fun There are some lines of work that few will enter except for money; road construction, for example. There are other fields of study and art in which there is little chance to become rich, which people enter for their fascination or their perceived value to society. Examples include mathematical logic, classical music, and archaeology; and political organizing among working people.People compete, more sadly than bitterly, for the few funded positions available, none of which is funded very well. They may even pay for the chance to work in the field, if they can afford to. Such a field can transform itself overnight if it begins to offer the possibility of getting rich. When one worker gets rich, others demand the same opportunity. Soon all may demand large s ums of money for doing what they used to do for pleasure. When another couple of years go by, everyone connected with the field will deride the idea that work would be done in the field without large financial returns.They will advise social planners to ensure that these returns are possible, prescribing special privileges, powers, and monopolies as necessary to do so. This change happened in the field of computer programming in the past decade. Fifteen years ago, there were articles on â€Å"computer addiction†: users were â€Å"onlining† and had hundred-dollar-a-week habits. It was generally understood that people frequently loved programming enough to break up their marriages. Today, it is generally understood that no one would program except for a high rate of pay.People have forgotten what they knew fifteen years ago. When it is true at a given time that most people will work in a certain field only for high pay, it need not remain true. The dynamic of change can run in reverse, if society provides an impetus. If we take away the possibility of great wealth, then after a while, when the people have readjusted their attitudes, they will once again be eager to work in the field for the joy of accomplishment. The question, â€Å"How can we pay programmers? † becomes an easier question when we realize that it's not a matter of paying them a fortune.A mere living is easier to raise. Funding Free Software Institutions that pay programmers do not have to be software houses. Many other institutions already exist that can do this. Hardware manufacturers find it essential to support software development even if they cannot control the use of the software. In 1970, much of their software was free because they did not consider restricting it. Today, their increasing willingness to join consortiums shows their realization that owning the software is not what is really important for them.Universities conduct many programming projects. Today they of ten sell the results, but in the 1970s they did not. Is there any doubt that universities would develop free software if they were not allowed to sell software? These projects could be supported by the same government contracts and grants that now support proprietary software development. It is common today for university researchers to get grants to develop a system, develop it nearly to the point of completion and call that â€Å"finished†, and then start companies where they really finish the project and make it usable.Sometimes they declare the unfinished version â€Å"free†; if they are thoroughly corrupt, they instead get an exclusive license from the university. This is not a secret; it is openly admitted by everyone concerned. Yet if the researchers were not exposed to the temptation to do these things, they would still do their research. Programmers writing free software can make their living by selling services related to the software. I have been hired to po rt the GNU C compiler to new hardware, and to make user-interface extensions to GNU Emacs. (I offer these improvements to the public once they are done. I also teach classes for which I am paid. I am not alone in working this way; there is now a successful, growing corporation which does no other kind of work. Several other companies also provide commercial support for the free software of the GNU system. This is the beginning of the independent software support industry–an industry that could become quite large if free software becomes prevalent. It provides users with an option generally unavailable for proprietary software, except to the very wealthy. New institutions such as the Free Software Foundation can also fund programmers.Most of the Foundation's funds come from users buying tapes through the mail. The software on the tapes is free, which means that every user has the freedom to copy it and change it, but many nonetheless pay to get copies. (Recall that â€Å"free software† refers to freedom, not to price. ) Some users who already have a copy order tapes as a way of making a contribution they feel we deserve. The Foundation also receives sizable donations from computer manufacturers. The Free Software Foundation is a charity, and its income is spent on hiring as many programmers as possible.If it had been set up as a business, distributing the same free software to the public for the same fee, it would now provide a very good living for its founder. Because the Foundation is a charity, programmers often work for the Foundation for half of what they could make elsewhere. They do this because we are free of bureaucracy, and because they feel satisfaction in knowing that their work will not be obstructed from use. Most of all, they do it because programming is fun. In addition, volunteers have written many useful programs for us. (Even technical writers have begun to volunteer. This confirms that programming is among the most fascinating of all fields, along with music and art. We don't have to fear that no one will want to program. What Do Users Owe to Developers? There is a good reason for users of software to feel a moral obligation to contribute to its support. Developers of free software are contributing to the users' activities, and it is both fair and in the long-term interest of the users to give them funds to continue. However, this does not apply to proprietary software developers, since obstructionism deserves a punishment rather than reward. We thus have a paradox: the developer of useful software is entitled to the support of the users, but any attempt to turn this moral obligation into a requirement destroys the basis for the obligation. A developer can either deserve a reward or demand it, but not both. I believe that an ethical developer faced with this paradox must act so as to deserve the reward, but should also entreat the users for voluntary donations. Eventually the users will learn to support d evelopers without coercion, just as they have learned to support public radio and television stations.What Is Software Productivity? If software were free, there would still be programmers, but perhaps fewer of them. Would this be bad for society? Not necessarily. Today the advanced nations have fewer farmers than in 1900, but we do not think this is bad for society, because the few deliver more food to the consumers than the many used to do. We call this improved productivity. Free software would require far fewer programmers to satisfy the demand, because of increased software productivity at all levels: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Wider use of each program that is developed.The ability to adapt existing programs for customization instead of starting from scratch. Better education of programmers. The elimination of duplicate development effort. Those who object to cooperation claiming it would result in the employment of fewer programmers are actually objecting to increased pr oductivity. Yet these people usually accept the widely-held belief that the software industry needs increased productivity. How is this? â€Å"Software productivity† can mean two different things: the overall productivity of all software development, or the productivity of individual projects.Overall productivity is what society would like to improve, and the most straightforward way to do this is to eliminate the artificial obstacles to cooperation which reduce it. But researchers who study the field of â€Å"software productivity† focus only on the second, limited, sense of the term, where improvement requires difficult technological advances. Is Competition Inevitable? Is it inevitable that people will try to compete, to surpass their rivals in society? Perhaps it is. But competition itself is not harmful; the harmful thing is combat. There are many ways to compete.Competition can consist of trying to achieve ever more, to outdo what others have done. For example, i n the old days, there was competition among programming wizards–competition for who could make the computer do the most amazing thing, or for who could make the shortest or fastest program for a given task. This kind of competition can benefit everyone, as long as the spirit of good sportsmanship is maintained. Constructive competition is enough competition to motivate people to great efforts. A number of people are competing to be the first to have visited all the countries on Earth; some even spend fortunes trying to do this.But they do not bribe ship captains to strand their rivals on desert islands. They are content to let the best person win. Competition becomes combat when the competitors begin trying to impede each other instead of advancing themselves–when â€Å"Let the best person win† gives way to â€Å"Let me win, best or not. † Proprietary software is harmful, not because it is a form of competition, but because it is a form of combat among th e citizens of our society. Competition in business is not necessarily combat. For example, when two grocery stores compete, their entire effort is to improve their own operations, not to sabotage the rival.But this does not demonstrate a special commitment to business ethics; rather, there is little scope for combat in this line of business short of physical violence. Not all areas of business share this characteristic. Withholding information that could help everyone advance is a form of combat. Business ideology does not prepare people to resist the temptation to combat the competition. Some forms of combat have been banned with anti-trust laws, truth in advertising laws, and so on, but rather than generalizing this to a principled rejection of combat in general, executives invent other forms of combat which are not specifically prohibited.Society's resources are squandered on the economic equivalent of factional civil war. â€Å"Why Don't You Move to Russia? † In the Unite d States, any advocate of other than the most extreme form of laissezfaire selfishness has often heard this accusation. For example, it is leveled against the supporters of a national health care system, such as is found in all the other industrialized nations of the free world. It is leveled against the advocates of public support for the arts, also universal in advanced nations. The idea that citizens have any obligation to the public good is identified in America with Communism.But how similar are these ideas? Communism as was practiced in the Soviet Union was a system of central control where all activity was regimented, supposedly for the common good, but actually for the sake of the members of the Communist party. And where copying equipment was closely guarded to prevent illegal copying. The American system of software copyright exercises central control over distribution of a program, and guards copying equipment with automatic copying-protection schemes to prevent illegal c opying.By contrast, I am working to build a system where people are free to decide their own actions; in particular, free to help their neighbors, and free to alter and improve the tools which they use in their daily lives. A system based on voluntary cooperation and on decentralization. Thus, if we are to judge views by their resemblance to Russian Communism, it is the software owners who are the Communists. The Question of Premises I make the assumption in this paper that a user of software is no less important than an author, or even an author's employer.In other words, their interests and needs have equal weight, when we decide which course of action is best. This premise is not universally accepted. Many maintain that an author's employer is fundamentally more important than anyone else. They say, for example, that the purpose of having owners of software is to give the author's employer the advantage he deserves–regardless of how this may affect the public. It is no use trying to prove or disprove these premises. Proof requires shared premises. So most of what I have to say is addressed only to those who share the premises I use, or at least are interested in what their consequences are.For those who believe that the owners are more important than everyone else, this paper is simply irrelevant. But why would a large number of Americans accept a premise that elevates certain people in importance above everyone else? Partly because of the belief that this premise is part of the legal traditions of American society. Some people feel that doubting the premise means challenging the basis of society. It is important for these people to know that this premise is not part of our legal tradition. It never has been. Thus, the Constitution says that the purpose of copyright is to â€Å"promote the progress of science and the useful arts. ‘ The Supreme Court has elaborated on this, stating in `Fox Film vs. Doyal' that â€Å"The sole interest of the Un ited States and the primary object in conferring the [copyright] monopoly lie in the general benefits derived by the public from the labors of authors. † We are not required to agree with the Constitution or the Supreme Court. (At one time, they both condoned slavery. ) So their positions do not disprove the owner supremacy premise. But I hope that the awareness that this is a radical right-wing assumption rather than a traditionally recognized one will weaken its appeal.Conclusion We like to think that our society encourages helping your neighbor; but each time we reward someone for obstructionism, or admire them for the wealth they have gained in this way, we are sending the opposite message. Software hoarding is one form of our general willingness to disregard the welfare of society for personal gain. We can trace this disregard from Ronald Reagan to Jim Bakker, from Ivan Boesky to Exxon, from failing banks to failing schools. We can measure it with the size of the homeless population and the prison population.The antisocial spirit feeds on itself, because the more we see that other people will not help us, the more it seems futile to help them. Thus society decays into a jungle. If we don't want to live in a jungle, we must change our attitudes. We must start sending the message that a good citizen is one who cooperates when appropriate, not one who is successful at taking from others. I hope that the free software movement will contribute to this: at least in one area, we will replace the jungle with a more efficient system which encourages and runs on voluntary cooperation. Footnotes 1.The word â€Å"free† in â€Å"free software† refers to freedom, not to price; the price paid for a copy of a free program may be zero, or small, or (rarely) quite large. 2. The issues of pollution and traffic congestion do not alter this conclusion. If we wish to make driving more expensive to discourage driving in general, it is disadvantageous to do t his using toll booths, which contribute to both pollution and congestion. A tax on gasoline is much better. Likewise, a desire to enhance safety by limiting maximum speed is not relevant; a free-access road enhances the average speed by avoiding stops and delays, for any given speed limit. . One might regard a particular computer program as a harmful thing that should not be available at all, like the Lotus Marketplace database of personal information, which was withdrawn from sale due to public disapproval. Most of what I say does not apply to this case, but it makes little sense to argue for having an owner on the grounds that the owner will make the program less available. The owner will not make it completely unavailable, as one would wish in the case of a program whose use is considered destructive.

A Selection of Special Birthday Wishes

When you receive a birthday card, is it the card or the birthday message inside that brings a smile to your face? Usually, its the message of the sender that makes the card special. So how can you make your birthday cards to friends and loved ones memorable? Store bought birthday cards are OK if you dont know the person that well, but they lack the personal touch.  A birthday card with a personalized message shows that you care, and demonstrates personal effort rather than settling for an off-the-shelf product. Birthday Quotes by William Shakespeare To me, fair friend, you never can be old. For as you were when first your eye I eyed. Such seems your beauty still. Have you not a moist eye, a dry hand, a yellow cheek, a white beard, a decreasing leg, an increasing belly? Is not your voice broken, your wind short, your chin double, your wit single, and every part  about you  blasted with antiquity? With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. Birthday Quotes From Singers Frank SinatraMay you live to be a hundred and may the last voice you hear be mine. Madonna Women, generally, when they reach a certain age, have accepted that they’re not allowed to behave a certain way. But I don’t follow the rules. I never did, and I’m not going to start. Birthday Quotes From Writers Anne Lamott The worst part about celebrating another birthday is the shock that youre only as well as you are. Lewis CarrollThere are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents and only one for birthday presents, you know.Annie DillardIt is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from our creator, our very self-consciousness, is also the one thing that divides us from our fellow creatures. It was a bitter birthday present from evolution. Wilson MiznerThe first hundred years are the hardest. Janet EvanovichRomance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth.Anne LamottSome people wont go the extra mile, and then on their birthday, when no one makes a fuss, they feel neglected and bitter. Birthday Quotes from Celebrities Muhammad Ali A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.Buddy Valastro Cakes are special. Every birthday, every celebration ends with something sweet, a cake, and people remember. Its all about the memories.Chili DavisGrowing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.Tom WilsonWisdom doesnt necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. Birthday Quotes from Politicians Oliver Wendell Holmes For him, in vain the envious seasons roll, who bears eternal summer in his soul. Eleanor Roosevelt I think, at a child’s birth  if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity.