Hi, Edmund! * Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2003-09-01 17:03]: > Of course. You have the right to sue anyone for anything at any time!
Oh well, I think you know what I meant. :) > However, in their defence the FSF will probably use the following > elements of the GPL as evidence that they were not negligent: > > 1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's > source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you > conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate > copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty > > 11. BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY > FOR THE PROGRAM, ... However I decided not to accept the license and may not even have read it. > If someone tries to sue you for distributing FSF software, you can > point at the same parts of the GPL and also at the warning on your web > site, if you have one. The whole point of my hypothetical example is that I don't accept the license and use the software nevertheless. How could the GPL then be of any help? > I suspect that in general it isn't particularly helpful to make people > "agree" to the GPL before downloading GPL software. Since the GPL > isn't a contract it's not clear what you expect people to agree to, > and since the GPL allows people to redistribute the software the > person who sues you might not have downloaded the software themselves. > Even if they did download it themselves, unless you get a signature > from them they can always claim to have received it second-hand. If an > aeroplace manufacturer deliberately missed out half the screws in > order to save money and as a result the wings fell off, would you > expect them to be any less liable for negligence just because you > bought the aeroplace second-hand? But what does that mean for the case we're discussing? Is what you're saying esantially: 1) Click-Through or just GPL doesn't make a difference. 2) The GPL no-warranty statement is useless because one does not have to agree to the license. ? 2) would seem strange to me because the same would be true about M$-EULAs and certainly someone would have sued... So the question basically remains: How can the UnrealIRCd team best disclaim warranty? Does a click-through license help with that? If not what about the rulings in my first mail? Cheers, Mika
