Graham Toal said: >> > The database is not a script. It is a binary compilation. >> >> It's not a script, true, but it also is not a binary compilation. If >> you look inside any of the database files unpacked by sigtool (sigtool >> --unpack) you'll note that they are actually a plain text files, one >> line per entry. So I think the previous posters point about them being >> analagous to scripts in that they are their own source is valid. > > Fortunately the way this project works is that users upload samples > of viruses, not signatures. That makes the signatures an original > work of the project and should be defendable; there is an implicit > copyright on the work even if it is not explicitly asserted. The > signatures clearly reflect 'sweat of the brow' effort; they are > not simply a collection of other people's work. > > If the converse had been true, and the project admins wanted to restrict > use of uploaded signatures, then they would have needed to assert a > compilation copyright in the database text file from the start. If that > had not already in place, they would have had a lot of difficulty > restricting distribution, had it come to court, and if they wanted to > start asserting a copyright at a late stage in the project they would > have had to re-collect the signatures from user contributions after > getting an explicit transfer of copyright from contributors. > > I am not a lawyer but I did once go through a very similar exercise. > > Bottom line, should anyone ever get serious about legal action in > a project like this, be prepared to spend significant sums of money on > lawyers. 6 or 7 figures for something like this. > > I really objected to paying our lawyers more for a 1hr consultation > than I earned in a month. > > > G > PS If the database is collected/built/stored in Europe then all > bets are off. Totally different game from America. >
I'm not a lawyer either, but I saw one in the wild once. I'm happy to live with the spirit of the license and use the product as intended. I also think that the GPL language clear with regard to reuse of components. I just don't think that its the perfect license for this product. ClamAV is still awesome. The ability to add my own signatures coupled with quick updates makes it an ideal solution for me. ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email is sponsored by: YOU BE THE JUDGE. Be one of 170 Project Admins to receive an Apple iPod Mini FREE for your judgement on who ports your project to Linux PPC the best. Sponsored by IBM. Deadline: Sept. 24. Go here: http://sf.net/ppc_contest.php _______________________________________________ Clamav-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/clamav-users
