RMS on the Creative Commons

With good reason, RMS and others have been critical of licenses offered by the Creative Commons forbidding the noncommercial sharing of complete works. With this news RMS says:

"This is a big step forward, and I can now support CC." (email 5/07)

And in typical fashion he offered some sound advice:

"However, the remaining CC licenses, while all ok in my opinion for some uses, remain very different. So we still need to encourage people to say which CC license they are using or talking about."

commons sense prevails

I had a big smile on my face when I read this. (via Glyn)

It's been unfortunate having to explain to others that while I support the Creative Commons organization, I do not support the phrase "creative commons license" when it lacks a clear qualifier. I've never thought favorably of either the DevNations or Sampling licenses. These options, while rarely employed, made declarations such as, "That song is under a creative commons license!" practically meaningless. As far as one can tell, with these two licenses gone this declaration now has significance. It now implies, at bare minimum, the freedom to make complete copies for others with whom you wish to share.