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15 February 2003

Open Source Bible

I purchased a bible today. I own probably a dozen different bibles, including an assortment of translations -- King James, New King James, NIV, Living, New American Standard, etc. ... A friend and fellow church goer commented about bible copyright. I never considered it but sure enough, in the NASB Bible published by Zondervan I purchased for $25, when I turned the first few pages, my eyes glazed over the copyright page ...
"NASB", "NAS", "New American Standard Bible" and the "New American Standard" trademarks ... are registered by the Lockman Foundation. Use ... requires the permission of The Lockman Foundation

PERMISSION TO QUOTE

The text of the ... may be quoted and/or reprinted up to ... five hundred (500) verses ... do not amount to ... more than 25% of the total work in which ...

So I guess if I posted a copy online I would be in big trouble. And that the bible is owned, er the trademark is registered to, by an institution that can instruct that an individual be placed into protective custody and charged with punitive fines for sharing the word of God. Oh, I forgot, for the translated word of God. Then I started thinking "Who is Zondervan? Who is The Lockman Foundation? One appears to be a for profit publisher, while the latter is a "nonprofit, interDenOMINATIONal ministry". The Zondervan web site is a professional looking online shop, compared to most of the online retailers who still haven't a clue. Nothing wrong with the profit motive but I do ponder if the typical bible mega-publishing conglomerate CEO enjoys as vast a ratio between his compensation package and lower level worker average salary like his Fortune 100 counterparts. Certainly, there's no campaign to move bible publishing manufacturing offshore like how U.S. flags are made in China.

I wondered, too, if there's been any work on an "Open Source Bible" effort? Besides the King James Version on Project Gutenburg. I did note a few "copyright" versions posted online - I presume the folks posting and downloading those text files don't believe that they've violated Exodus 20. Or they care not either way.

9 February 2003

Isn't this exactly what America's Founding Fathers were trying to prevent?

This is a Jan. 9 draft of a new, "Son of Patriot Act" that would give the government even more domestic intelligence-gathering, surveillance and other powers, while decreasing public access to information and accountability.
  • Generally increases powers under Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
  • "Wartime" emergency FISA wiretaps won't require declaration of war (103)
  • New "domestic security surveillance" powers (123)
  • Easier for government to get credit reports (126)
  • New "we ask, you can't tell" subpoena powers (128)
  • More secrecy about government detainees (201)
  • Return of "use crypto in a felony" sentence enhancement (404)
  • New Attorney General power to declare aliens removable as "danger to national security" (503)

Are there any patriotic Republicans who will raise their voices in opposition to Bush 43 and his minions as they continue to shred the Constitution? Is there any doubt that the Republicans have truly become the "anti-freedom" party, acting to curtail and destroy the dreams of the nation's founding fathers? It's as if Bin Laden and our other enemies were in cahoots with Bush 43, working to destroy America from within...
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