It's not a secret (oops sorry for the bad joke) that I don't like the principle behind the non-disclosure agreement. The idea behind a non-disclosure agreement is the old approach of "secrecy" in our societies. Everyday, we meet software/hardware companies trying to force people to sign non-disclosure agreements for some useful (and not always…) technical information (e.g. how to access a badly design wireless chipset). Everyone knows that Free Software is somehow due to a non-disclosure agreement proposed to Richard Stallman by Xerox for a simple printer driver. I had always the issue on how to explain clearly the "secrecy" concept behind non-disclosure agreement but today, I found the following explanation from Guy Debord. The text below is just from the commentary of his well-known book : Society of the Spectacle that has nothing to do with non-disclosure agreement. He talks about the role of "secrecy" in our societies and clearly explain at the same time the modus-operandi of a non-disclosure agreement :
... Elles (les brides d'information que l'on offre à ces familiers de la tyrannie mensongère) font plaisir pourtant à ceux qui y accèdent, car ils se sentent supérieurs à tous ceux qui ne savent rien. Elles ne valent du reste que pour faire mieux approuver la domination, et jamais pour la comprendre effectivement. ...
from page 85 of Commentaires sur La société du spectacle by Guy Debord
Tags: freedom copyright nda freesoftware secret
geo: Les Bulles, Chiny
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