By not going after Sony, there is a conflict that needs to be resolved. The software has a copyright on it that says one thing. But the contributors and maintainers are saying something else. That is a legal problem with legal and ethical ramifications that need to be addressed.
Question: Why does the software bear a copyright if the contributors are not interested in enforcing it? Possibilities: 1) The contributors don't agree with the copyright terms. Thus, the copyright should be changed to a completely free one. 2) The existing copyright accurately reflects the belief of the contributors, and those persons wronged can right this wrong and resolve their anger by enacting the appropriate legal response. This will involve time and money. There are many organizations that may fund this (GNU, EFF, ACLU, IBM, Red Hat, Novell, a university, a lawyer willing to take a percentage, others?...). It won't be easy though. 3) The existing copyright accurately reflects the belief of the contributors but they don't act, out of fear or because the violation is not serious enough. This weakens the open-source projects that want to be taken seriously. It invites future copyright violations and places the copyright on questionable ground. It would become like a speed limit (in the US at least): It says one thing but means another. Recommendation: I recommend that the main contributors and maintainers discuss which option they wish to follow. With regards to money: Since the copyright terms do not state anything about monetary compensation, money is not a relevant factor. No one will become a millionaire. No one here will really profit. It is possible that some of the time and effort put into the project may be reimbursed. It is possible that lawyers will profit. It is possible that Sony (or the software author, if Sony indemifies them) will be financially punished. These are irrelevant side-effects and are not part of the decision above. Choose wisely. Moby Disk > On Fri, Nov 18, 2005 at 06:27:33PM -0500, Ronen Mizrahi wrote: > >>If you do not think they did anything wrong then obviously no need to >>sue anyone. > > > No. I think there's a good chance they were unaware. I'm more > certain we'll never know for sure. > > >>However if they did violated your rights, then why not >>trying to get a lawyer that does not cost you anything. > > > As fas as the LGPL volation goes, it is a very small part of this > puzzle. I believe the violation is real, but the truly egregious act > is the rootkit. > > Were there no rootkit and were Sony honestly unaware of the LGPL > violation, I should think the correct path would be to notify them and > ask for compliance. I think that is still the correct path in this > case. If they refuse, then escalate. > > >>If you can't get >>a lawyer from the EFF or a lawyer that will do it for a percentage of >>whatever sum you will win then don't do it. Can you get such a lawyer? > > > No. Not in the real world. > > >>It probably depends on the case you can make and the amount of money a >>lawyer thinks he/she can get from Sony. It is worthwhile getting several >>legal opinions anyhow. If you do not try, you will never know. > > > Since you have not tried, you do not know. I *have* tried, and I > know. You pick your battles carefully when you fight giants. > > >>The press >>coverage for this lawsuit is more important than winning it or making a >>lot of money. > > > We agree here. > > >>Speaking of which, here is another suggestion, why not >>contact the EFF just so that they can talk to some people in the press >>about Sony breaking copyright law in order to protect their own rights. > > > This is a much more practical suggestion! > > >>I mean the importangt thing here is teaching them a lesson, and if not a >>lawsuit then this may well be a good way to do it.. > > > Agreed. > > In fact, the major exception I took in this thread was not with you. > The 'This is your chance to be millionaires' that started it actively > pissed me off. > > Monty _______________________________________________ mp3encoder mailing list [email protected] http://minnie.tuhs.org/mailman/listinfo/mp3encoder
