Editing 1228: Prometheus
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
β | This comic is | + | This comic is about copyright and patent, which are temporary government-granted monopolies for authors and inventors. It refers to the cultural hero {{w|Prometheus}} in Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. In this case, Prometheus claims that it is more like sharing than stealing because the gods still have the original fire. By analogy, uploading music, movies, and software is more like sharing than stealing because the authors and inventors still have the original files. Fire-sharing is a pun for {{w|file-sharing}}. "Fire wants to be free" is a pun for the slogan "{{w|Information wants to be free}}." |
This could also be a reference to the strict punishments of copyright laws as one could be fined a lot for failing to comply with the copy and Prometheus was also heavily punished by having an eagle rip out his liver every day and the liver regrowing every night. | This could also be a reference to the strict punishments of copyright laws as one could be fined a lot for failing to comply with the copy and Prometheus was also heavily punished by having an eagle rip out his liver every day and the liver regrowing every night. |