On Fri, 21 May 2004, Steve Langasek wrote:
> I think you're probably right that this option, if exercised, would
> be non-free. However, I have never seen anyone exercise this
> particular option -- I had even forgotten it was there.
8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted
in certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted
interfaces, the original copyright holder who places the
Program under this License may add an explicit geographical
distribution limitation excluding those countries, so that
distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus
excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the
limitation as if written in the body of this License. GPL §8
Yes, GPL §8 if exercised with a non-null country set would fail DFSG
#5 and #1.
Even ignoring the DFSG issues, as a service to the authors of such
works, Debian should refrain from distributing them in the first
place.
Works that are exercising §8 are most likely doing so because the
author fears criminal or civil retribution in the excluded countries,
and as Debian is basically worldwide, Debian's distribution of such
works will likely endanger the authors.
Don ARmstrong
--
"I was thinking seven figures," he said, "but I would have taken a
hundred grand. I'm not a greedy person." [All for a moldy bottle of
tropicana.]
-- Sammi Hadzovic [in Andy Newman's 2003/02/14 NYT article.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/14/nyregion/14EYEB.html
http://www.donarmstrong.com
http://rzlab.ucr.edu
