Shriramana Sharma writes: > Please can anyone translate clause 3 of the GPL v3 to plain English? > > Am I wrong in understanding that it means that no-one may use a > software licensed under GPL v3 to enforce DRM? If I am not wrong, then > does not this conflict with clause 6 of the DFSG - "The license must > not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field > of endeavor." thereby making GPL v3 non DFSG-free?
You are not wrong in understanding that it denies special legal protections for DRM to GPLed works. However, that is not a field of endeavor in the sense that the DFSG is generally interpreted, in part because those legal protections are unique to (and elevated because of) DRM. The apparent goal of clause 3 is to apply usual copyright laws to the entire system, rather than allow a distributor to invoke a more restricted special-case set. The other common example of something that is not a field of endeavor is violating the software's copyright: if that were a covered "field of endeavor", no license could ever be enforced. A common example of something that *is* a field of endeavor is use by a military force or in military systems. I am not sure that anyone has proposed a clear, unambiguous way to interpret "field of endeavor" in the sense that the DFSG means, but I personally tend to consider the end user's use of the software rather than a distributor's objective. The DFSG -- like the FSF's software freedoms -- is ultimately meant to help the end user make the most out of software. Michael Poole -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
