On Thursday 14 June 2007 11:20:34 Adrian Bunk wrote: > On Thu, Jun 14, 2007 at 12:00:17AM -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > On Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:56:40 +0200, Adrian Bunk said: > > > Reality check: > > > > > > Harald convinced companies that they have to provide the private keys > > > required to run the Linux kernel they ship on their hardware. > > > > No, the *real* reality check: > > > > The operative words here are "convinced companies" - as opposed to > > "convinced a judge to rule that private keys are required to be > > disclosed". (I just checked around on gpl-violations.org, and I don't see > > any news items that say they actually generated citable case law on the > > topic of keys...) > > > > Harald convinced companies that it was easier/cheaper/faster to provide > > the private keys than to continue in a long legal battle with an > > uncertain outcome. If the company estimates the total loss due to keys > > being released is US$100K, but the costs of taking it to court are > > estimated at US$200K, it's obviously a win (lesser loss, actually) for > > the company to just fold. > >... > > Here in Germany, the rules at court are roughly "the loser pays > everything including the costs of the winner", so if a big company is > sure they will win at court there's no reason not to go there. > > And if they did the effort of using private keys to only allow running > an official firmware, they must have seen an advantage from doing so. > > I'm not saying it legally clear the other way round, my statement was > an answer to Daniel's emails claiming it was clear what such companies > do was legal.
I'm sorry if I gave anyone that impression. My point was that it would be pointless to argue the case in the US because here it really is, usually , "buy the best justice for the money". DRH > cu > Adrian -- Dialup is like pissing through a pipette. Slow and excruciatingly painful. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
