Mark Harrison wrote: > Mac wrote: >> You do have to hand it to Richard Stallman, Eben Moglen and their >> colleagues - the genius evident in GPLv3 just takes your breath away:
> I'm no lawyer, but in the UK at least, there are at least two problems > with the "legal analysis" here: > > - I had understood that a new contract / law could never apply > retroactively. I believe that the same applies in the US. > - I had understood that a contract could not be used to cause a party to > commit a criminal offence. In the UK at least, such a contract term > would be struck down by the courts (and usually, any contract would > include a clause that explicitly said that if one part of the contract > were found to be illegal, the rest still stood.) As I understand it, GPLv3 is not a contract; it's a waiver of copyright that passes to those who also waive copyright. This is what's so clever about it - it just doesn't work like a contract or licence. I think this is why patent/copyright lawyers have such trouble with it: it's anti-matter! Best wishes Mac -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
