On 14 Dec 1999, Thomas Bushnell, BSG wrote: > Contracts require consideration to be taken as valid contracts. Mere > promises are not legally enforceable. However, the right to copy the > software is most certainly consideration.
Yes, but I was thinking the other way around: the author of the program does not necessarily get any consideration out of putting his program under the GPL (which ought to count as a promise to enter the described contract with anyone who accepts the conditions). So, legally, what prevents an American author from telling CheapBytes "sorry, I changed my mind so foobar is not GPLed anymore. Would you please destroy all of your CDs or pay a license fee to me?" > The GPL is also not a contract, it's a public license. Huh? Are "public licenses" a sui generis case in American law? -- Henning Makholm
