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by ketzo 960 days ago
This is a huge straw man/whataboutism that contributes nothing to the discussion.

Yes, bad software modifications are bad and should be punished wherever they arise.

Homebrew modifications make it way easier for bad stuff to happen, and make it harder to punish.
2 comments
worik 960 days ago
> bad software modifications are bad and should be punished wherever they arise.

That almost never happens. Software sux.

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schiffern 960 days ago 

  >  This is a huge straw man/whataboutism that contributes nothing to the discussion.
It's a countervailing concern, not a strawman.

  > bad software modifications... should be punished wherever they arise
Corporations are currently unpunished (per TFA) when they alter software in a way that risks patient safety, and they have already caused documented harm to patients. This is a shocking failure of federal oversight, but the captured FDA will (by design) never fix it. Oops.

In light of the real harm caused by this neverending policy failure, the Library of Congress is morally and ethically obligated to permit fair use exemption. Individuals and homebrew communities must be unshackled to protect patients from the real (not hypothetical!), documented, and widespread harm caused by corporate-sponsored attacks on US medical infrastructure.

No, that's not an exaggeration.

Given the current anti-patient landscape, the protections of open source far outweigh any risk.

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