Phil Mattison said:
> As someone alluded to earlier, I agree that the whole problem of vendor
> lock-in results from the application of copyright law to software source
> code, which is ludicrous. Copyright law was developed to protect authors
> of literary art, not software. Software is more like a machine than like

It was not just literary art.  Copyright was a COMPROMISE between creators
and users (of all types of content) to encourage innovation.  It is clear
that current legislation is very much lopsided towards "protecting the
monopoly of the creator" and thus hurting the user by stifling innovation.

I think copyright is broken, however I do not agree that software should
not be allowed to be copyrighted.  I think that different "works" probably
need different "terms" in copyright law.  For example, the shelf life of a
monopoly for software should be much shorter than say that of a movie or
musical work.

> literature. Yet there is a whole separate debate over whether to allow
> software patents. Personally I think patents for software also are
> stupid, and dilute the efficacy of patent protection for real
> inventions. What is needed is a separate body of law to protect software

Software patents seem onerous to me.  Frankly unlike copyright patents are
so subject to opinion it makes them nearly impossible to enforce properly.
 The clowns that are granting them now are likely to allow a patent on
breathing oxygen...

> intellectual property, one that recognizes the distinct nature of
> software and its related industry, which did not exist at the time
> copyright and patent laws were developed. This would be an excellent
> agenda for the FSF to promote, and I think more likely to succeed
> long-term than the commune approach to software development.

They are a 501c3 and thusly they can not engage in political activities. 
Copyrights and patents are both "legislature" so to speak and thus
lobbying to change them is not within the bounds of what they do.  The do
have a few organizations that are friends that DO promote such things. 
Such as the EFF[0] and the League for Programming Freedom[1].

[0] http://www.eff.org
[1] http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/

-Derek