Mahesh, I appreciate your comments. It is good to hear from you. Fortunately (or unfortunately) court precedent trumps assertion. Just because a lot of people believe that something is right does not make it right - ethically or legally. There are over a hundred examples of things that were common practice for decades until ruled illegal by a court. When it comes to the law, it is not prudent to assume.
GPL advocates want the GPL to become the king of all free software licenses. And if wants to be the king, it will have to go through the fire of legal review in a court. I am not being cynical, but the GPL is too overreaching. This is not just my opinion. I have visited dozens of free software websites and developer disfavor about the GPL is steadily increasing. It is just a matter of time before the tenuousness of this license ends up in a court. I think money will also force this issue into court, because inevitably, someone's confusion about the license will lead to the loss of a ton of money. When big cash is on the table, a court case is around the corner. Stay in touch. kb -----Original Message----- From: Mahesh T Pai [mailto:paivakil@;vsnl.net] Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 7:33 AM To: Ken Brown Cc: Brendan Hide; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Copyright Ken Brown wrote: > FSF has bullied a couple of developers, but hasn't had a judge rule > in their favor yet. When they win in a court of law, I'll open my > mind to their sales pitch a little more. If the means used by FSF are 'bullying', how do you describe the activities of the BSA? I regard the fact that there is no decision in favour of the GPL as a major plus point in its favour. Absence of a ruling in its favour means, to me, :- 1. The license is easy to comply with. 2. There is no decision on GPL, coz no body went to court over it. 3. Nobody went to court over GPL coz. nobody continues with the violations once the fact is pointed out. That the FSF (or any other author who released his/her software under the GPL) never had to go to court is a major plus point of the GPL. > Without the restrictions of a license that insists on strict > enforcement of your copyright, ... You do not need a license to protect / enforce your copyright. The statute book does it. > From my research, agreeing to GPL your work does not technically > revoke your ownership of the playground, but it does revoke almost > all of the rights and privileges that come with ownership Will you please clarify that? > I cannot control what anybody does with my > work, besides assert credit, That is the *intention* of the GPL. In other words, it is not a bug but a feature. Regards, Mahesh T Pai. -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3 -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3