Z:gnu-www-ja-lessig-fsfs-intro--a8ef70-=26ldquo;Free software,=26rdquo; l/en

&ldquo;Free software,&rdquo; like free societies, has its enemies. Microsoft has waged a war against the GPL, warning whoever will listen that the GPL is a &ldquo;dangerous&rdquo; license. The dangers it names, however, are largely illusory. Others object to the &ldquo;coercion&rdquo; in GPL's insistence that modified versions are also free. But a condition is not coercion. If it is not coercion for Microsoft to refuse to permit users to distribute modified versions of its product Office without paying it (presumably) millions, then it is not coercion when the GPL insists that modified versions of free software be free too.