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Comment by kvb | Hacker News Reader

In a post-copyright world, how can you force someone to release their modifications to your code? You couldn't argue that they were violating the terms of your copyright, because there is no copyright (in such a hypothetical world)! The GPL depends on copyright law to provide its teeth.

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Do we have to rely on copyright to force people to list the ingredients in food?

No, but I'm having a hard time envisioning a regulatory body akin to the FDA for all software. And even ingredient lists contain terms like "natural flavors" which hide some arguably important aspects of the composition.

>I'm having a hard time envisioning a regulatory body akin to the FDA for all software.

I do too, because I think copyright will be extended until forever - but the power given to the FDA was hard to imagine before Lash-Lure. Maybe it'll take a badly coded toy or self-driving car to kill or maim a lot of people to create a Source Code Distribution Administration.

>ingredient lists contain terms like "natural flavors" which hide some arguably important aspects of the composition.

Controversially.

I don't see your point. In the analogy, copyright law is analogous to food safety law that requires labeling.

Copyright law isn't the only kind of law possible that would require people to release source code. The fact that it is even used to do that is a weird recursive act begun by an eccentric genius and a fortunate historical accident. That's my point.

Perhaps not, strictly speaking. It could go by another name, but it would by definition have to be some sort of intellectual property protection law.

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