Party News

On 30 and 31  January Comrade Miller of Central London Branch gave two talks hosted by the Edinburgh and Glasgow branches, respectively. Both talks were on the subject of intellectual property and Free Software.


 The Edinburgh talk was attended by about 15 people, over half of them first-time visitors. Many of the visitors were avid users and developers of Free Software, and the talk was followed by a long and generally positive discussion. The Glasgow talk also had a similar-sized audience, with two visitors.


 Comrade Miller began the talk by introducing and comparing the concepts of physical property and intellectual property (IP), explaining how the law treats them much the same despite the fact that IP requires practically no labour to reproduce and does not spoil or wear out. The primary purpose of laws preventing people from copying music, software, literature, and other information, then, is to effect an artificial scarcity which helps secure profits for IP owners.

 Comrade Miller explained how independent software developers, angry with the restrictions imposed by commercial IP owners, began to voluntarily license their software copyrights under terms which guaranteed that the software would always be free for others to use, study, copy, and modify. Since most new software is created by refining and combining existing pieces of software, this licensing scheme essentially returned control of the means of production of software to the community.

 The Free Software licencing scheme has since been popularised and adapted to other forms of IP, most notably artwork and literature. Comrade Miller examined as a case study Wikipedia, a large online encyclopaedia which is collaboratively edited by thousands of volunteers from all over the world. The facts that editors contribute voluntarily and without compensation, and that the project operates in a largely democratic fashion without a government, serve to refute the common anti-socialist argument that people will not work and cooperate without coercion.

 Though Wikipedia and other free content projects are not socialism, they are illustrative of how certain aspects of socialism could operate. If the artificial scarcity capitalism imposes on physical resources were abolished, as free licensing has done with certain informational resources, then what would be left to stop us from runningthe whole world through voluntary labour and free access?


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UK BRANCHES &  CONTACTS

LONDON

Central London branch.
Corres:Richard Botterill, 21 Ashwell Park, Harpenden,
Herts AL5 5SG.
Tel: 01582 764929.
Email:
2nd Tuesday and the 4th Monday of every month
 at  7.30 Head Office.
52 Clapham High
St, SW4 7UN.

Enfield and Haringey branch.
Tues 8pm.
 Angel Community Centre,
Raynham Rd, NI8.
Corres: 17 Dorset Road,
 N22 7SL
Email:

South London branch.
 1st Mon.7.45pm. Head Office. 52 Clapham High St, SW4 7UN. Tel: 020 7622 3811.

West London branch.
1st & 3rd Tues.8pm,
 Chiswick Town Hall,
Heathfield Terrace (Corner Sutton Court Rd), W4.
Corres: 51 Gayford Road,
London W12 9BY

Pimlico.
C. Trinder, 24 Greenwood Ct,
155 Cambridge Street, SW1 4VQ.
 Tel:020 7834 8186

MIDLANDS

Birmingham branch.
 

Corres: David Coggan,
13 Bowling Green Rd, Stourbridge, DY8 3TT.
 Tel: 01384 348845. djcoggan@hotmail.com

Website

NORTHEAST

Northeast branch.
Corres: John Bissett, 10 Scarborough Parade,
Hebburn, Tyne & Wear, NE31 2AL. Tel: 0191 422 6915
  Email:

NORTHWEST

Lancaster branch.
 P. Shannon, 71 Coniston Road, Lancaster LA1 3NW.
Email:

Manchester branch.
Paul Bennett, 6 Burleigh Mews,
 Hardy Lane, M21 7LB.
 Tel:0161 860 7189
Website.

 

Bolton.

 Tel: H. McLaughlin,
01204 844589

Cumbria.
 Brendan Cummings, 19 Queen St, Millom, Cumbria LA18 4BG

Carlisle.
Robert Whitfield. Email:
tel: 07906 373975

Rochdale.
 R. Chadwick, 01706 522365

Southeast Manchester.
Enquiries
Blanche Preston, 68 Fountains Road, M32 9PH

YORKSHIRE

Huddersfield.
Richard Rainferd, 28 Armitage Rd, Armitage Bridge,
Huddersfield, West Yorks, HD4 7DP

Hull.
Keith Scholey. Tel: 01482 44651

Skipton.
 R Cooper, 1 Caxton Garth, Threshfield, Skipton
BD23 5EZ. Tel: 01756 752621

SOUTH/SOUTHEAST
/SOUTHWEST

Bournemouth and East Dorset.
Paul Hannam, 12 Kestrel Close, Upton, Poole
BH16 5RP. Tel: 01202 632769

Brighton.
 Corres: c/o 52 Clapham High Street, London
SW4 7UN

Bristol.
Shane Roberts, 86 High Street, Bristol
BS5 6DN. Tel: 0117 951119

Cambridge.
Andrew Westley, 10 Marksby Close, Duxford, Cambridge CB2 4RS. Tel: 01223 570292

Canterbury.
Rob Cox, 4 Stanhope Road, Deal, Kent, CT14 6AB

Luton.
Nick White, 59 Heywood Drive, LU2 7LP

Redruth.
 Harry Sowden, 5 Clarence Villas, Redruth,
Cornwall, TR15 1PB.
Tel: 01209 219293

East Anglia
East Anglia branch meets every two
months on a Saturday afternoon (see meetings page for details).David Porter,Eastholme, Bush Drive, Eccles-on-Sea,
NR12 0SF. Tel: 01692 582533.
Richard Headicar, 42 Woodcote, Firs
Rd, Hethersett, NR9 3JD. Tel: 01603
814343.
Richard Layton, 23 Nottingham Rd,
Clacton, CO15 5PG. Tel: 01255 814047.

 

NORTHERN IRELAND

 Newtownabbey:
Nigel McCulloch
Tel:02890 860687

SCOTLAND

Edinburgh branch.
1st Thur. 8-9pm.
The Quaker Hall, Victoria Terrace(above Victoria Street), Edinburgh.
Also 2nd & 4th Wednesdays,
The Lanthorn Community Centre,Dedridge Livingston,West Lothian
J. Moir. Tel: 0131 440 0995
Email
Website

Glasgow branch.
 3rd Wednesday of each month at 8pm in  Community Central Halls, 304 Maryhill  Road, Glasgow. Richard Donnelly, 112  Napiershall Street, Glasgow G20 6HT.
Tel: 0141 5794109 Email: Website

Ayrshire:
 D. Trainer, 21 Manse Street, Salcoats, KA21 5AA.
 Tel: 01294 469994. Email

Dundee.
 Ian Ratcliffe, 16v Birkhall Ave, Wormit, Newport-on-Tay,
DD6 8PX.
 Tel: 01328 541643

West Lothian.
2nd and 4th Weds in month, 7.30-9.30.
 Lanthorn Community  Centre, Kennilworth Rise, Dedridge,
Livingston.
 Corres: Matt Culbert,
 53 Falcon Brae, Ladywell, Livingston, West Lothian, EH5 6UW. Tel: 01506 462359. Email

WALES

Swansea branch.
2nd Mon, 7.30pm,
Unitarian Church, High Street. Corres:Geoffrey Williams,
19 Baptist Well Street, Waun Wen,
Swansea SA1 6FB.
Tel: 01792 643624

Cardiff and District.
John James,
 67 Romilly Park Road,
Barry  CF62 6RR
 Tel:01446 405636

 

INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

AFRICA

Gambia. World of Free Access.
c/o 21 Dobson St, Benjul.

Kenya.
 Patrick Ndege, PO Box 56428,
Nairobi

Namibia.
 Anthony Amugongo, PO Box 1502,
Oshataki.

Swaziland.
 Mandia Ntshakala, PO Box
981, Manzini

EUROPE

Denmark.
Graham Taylor, Spobjervej
173, DK-8220, Brabrand.

Germany.
Norbert  Email:

Norway.
 Robert Stafford. Email:

COMPANION PARTIES
OVERSEAS

World Socialist Party of Australia.
 c/o
Rod Miller, 8 Graelee Court,
Kingston,
Tasmania 7050,
Australia. Email:

Socialist Party of Canada/Parti Socialiste du Canada.
 
Box 4280,
Victoria B.C.
 V8X 3X8
Canada. Email  : Website

World Socialist Party (New Zealand)
r> P.O. Box 1929,
 Auckland, NI,
New Zealand. Email: Website

World Socialist Party of the United States
P.O. Box 440247,
Boston, MA
02144 USA. Email:  Webs
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