[pp.int.general] Open source and 5 years of copyright

[Richard Stallman]

    my name is Wesley Schwengle and I'm member and a candidate of the Dutch
    pirateparty. As an active open source user I have been asked to involve
    the Dutch open source community in the discussion and to get their
    support. However, before I do this, I want to know what the opinion is,
    of Richard Stallman in particular, regarding the wish of reducing
    copyright to 5 years for commercial means. And also, do you know what
    others within the open source community have to say about this?

I'm part of the free software community.  It was built by the free
software movement, a movement based on ideals of freedom for computer
users.

Open source is the name of a different political position which
rejects our ideals.  I have never been a supporter of open source.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html
for more information about the difference between the two camps.

My view as a free software supporter is in
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pirate-party.html.  I can't speak for
any "open source" supporters, since I disagree with them
at the most basic level.

The UK pirate party has adopted a platform that addresses
this issue in a way I am happy with.