Chris Waters writes: > All free licenses, and especially all copyleft licenses, require the > waiver of certain legal rights (such as the right to sue for copyright > infringement).
Explain, please. There have been a number of copyright complaints filed (in Germany and the US) over GPLed software. The GPL's copyleft nature did not bar those lawsuits. I am not aware of any that went to trial in the US, but at least one German lawsuit alleging GPL violations was decided[1] for the licensor, and other cases (in both countries) have settled with the defendant agreeing to comply with the GPL. [1]- http://www.gpl-violations.org/news/20060922-dlink-judgement_frankfurt.html > The requirement in copyleft to provide source code can > also be seen as a fee--in fact, this has been cited as a reason for > considering the GPLv2 valid, enforcible and non- discriminatory with > respect to anti-trust law. That unattributed "has been cited" reads like a poor appeal to an indefinite authority. Daniel Wallace's failed anti-trust lawsuit _cited_ such provisions as reasons to consider the GPLv2 invalid, unenforceable and an unlawful conspiracy with respect to anti-trust law. We can see how far making that claim got him. (Incidentally, neither the district court's ruling[2] to dismiss Wallace's complaint, nor the appeals court's order[3] upholding dismissal, treat the requirement to provide source code as a fee. To the contrary, their orders seem to view it primarily as a benefit to the end user and to the software community. [2]- http://www.groklaw.net/pdf/WallaceFSFGrantingDismiss.pdf [3]- http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/fdocs/docs.fwx?submit=showbr&shofile=06-2454_008.pdf ) While there is a fairly broad range of what people on this list think is a "fee", in the end, providing source code for software that one distributes has never been considered a fee. Giving up tangible property, actions unrelated to software (such as petting a cat) and intellectual property unrelated to the software in question (such as over-broad patent defense clauses) have been considered fees. Concessions necessary to exercise software freedoms have not. Michael Poole -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
