> From: Lester Caine [mailto:les...@lsces.co.uk] > Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 8:15 AM > Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Re: Time zone database shut down by legal threat > > Pierre Joye wrote: > > See the blog post itself for more information. They create a mailing > > list to create an alternative database but not to argue about the > > legal case. I would suggest to discuss things there instead. > > I had no doubt that the data would continue to exist, and it has been > confirmed > that it will be updated on the Australian site. The remaining question is "Is > there any problem using that data to update the PHP version?" Since there are > apparently already a number of corrections in the pipeline ... ;) > > -- > Lester Caine - G8HFL
IANAL but yes, if the copyright claim is determined to be valid I'm sure they could go after anyone else that continues to reproduce it (using the Olsen database or a derivative in a software product like PHP or Linux would certainly apply.) If for some reason this holds up in court, I would not be at all surprised to see them go after a larger (more lucrative) target next. Also, as far as I understand willful copyright violation (you knew about the copyright claim and reproduced the work anyway) is a much more expensive mistake than something less deliberate. The safest thing for PHP is probably to immediately stop bundling the Olsen database or derivatives until this issue is sorted. Since that isn't really possible or practical, I think a next best option would be to (at least for now) remove the portion of the data that is in dispute (as far as I understand this is just historical pre-1991 US TZ data?). I'm not sure what impact this has on distribution of current and/or previous versions of PHP but I worry that it isn't pretty. Obviously the issue is big enough that legal counsel should be involved if possible. John Crenshaw Priacta, Inc. -- PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
