The term "autograph tax" is a foolish exaggeration--I am not a
government, so I cannot make anyone pay taxes. I'm told that such
foolishness is common among the people making this criticism: that
they generally seek opportunities to criticize the Free Software
Foundation, whether valid or not.
Shortly after I arrived in FISL, someone asked me to sign his
convention badge. I realized that thousands of people might attend,
and signing thousands of convention badges could take hours.
Therefore I said I would sign it in exchange for a contribution of 10
reais (5 dollars) for the Free Software Foundation. Likewise, I
realized that hundreds or thousands might ask me to pose with them
for photographs. So I decided to ask 5 reais for this, about $2.50,
also for the Free Software Foundation.
People who ask me to sign or pose are asking for some of my
time, which needs must come from my other volunteer work for the
cause. On most occasions, the total time involved is not very large,
so I do as they ask, taking steps to make the process efficient. But
this does not mean my time is theirs to dispose of. I think it is
entirely proper to ask people to make a small contribution to the
cause in exchange. By charging for autographs and for poses, I raised
a few hundred dollars for the FSF and FSF Latin America, and perhaps
saved myself several boring hours of signing badges. This money will
help us spread the philosophy of free software--a difficult job,
because so many users of the GNU operating system think it is "Linux"
and do not realize that it comes from the free software ideals.
I believe that all software ethically must be free, free in the
sense of respecting the users' freedom, but I don't believe that
software must be gratis--nor services, such as autographing or
posing. Rather, I believe people deserve the freedom to decide
whether to do these things. So I decline to support the newly formed
gratis autograph movement. Instead, I hererby launch the free
autographing movement, which advocates everyone's freedom to sign
autographs or not.
Copyright 2006 Richard Stallman. Verbatim copying and
distribution of this entire response are permitted worldwide without
royalty in any medium provided this notice is preserved.
(source: http://www.linux.com/articles/54012?tid=150 )
Richard, should we expect a contribution to the project for the time
that you and your minions have taken from all of us?
