Bought Some Bananas Today
Mar 15th, 2008 |
I bought some bananas today.
My wife had done some shopping earlier but had forgotten fruit. I was sent out to get some. I didn’t think twice about whether to get Fair Trade, I believe in thoughtful, responsible buying. Since then I have been wondering how far we should take this.
There is an internet campaign going to encourage people to boycott Trend Micro. Is this too a Fair Trade thing? It is a bit more complicated than bananas. Free or opensource software is one thing that can empower poor countries and their education systems.
But as I said, how far do we take this?
Timothy Barton said:
I disagree. The company has worked hard to produce the software, and has every right to protect its intellectual property. I use a proprietary program for my business accounts. It’s a very good program, and I’m perfectly happy with the money I paid the company to produce it. Should another company be able to come along, steal all the ideas and release it free of charge?