On the one hand, this is awful news. However, it's somewhat encouraging that we are not alone in this boat, in terms of GPL-ness.
If you could pass on my thanks (and I assume the thanks of everyone on this list) to Karen, that would be much appreciated. -Colin On Jan 11, 2011, at 2:43 PM, Evan Schoenberg, M.D. wrote: > I just got off the phone with Karen Sandler, our legal representative at > SoftwareFreedom.org, the not-for-profit firm which provides lawyery goodness > to the IMF and therefore us. > > In the current agreement for the App Store - on all platforms - there are > several provisions which restrict distribution. These are incompatible with > the GPL. If we were to submit Adium to the App Store, any contributor - > which includes contributors to underlying libraries like libpurple, libglib, > or libintl - could (1) sue us directly and (2) activate the deauthorization > provision in the GPL to remove our right to use the code, both because we > would have knowingly violated the GPL. > > The only ways around this would be: > 1) Every contributor agrees to allow Adium to be submitted. This would > require all libraries' contributors. It's completely infeasible to contact > the 1000+ people that would include... not to mention that one or more would > almost certainly object on free software principles. > > OR > > 2) Have Apple modify the license to allow for the GPL. > > Apple, according to Karen, generally dislikes the GPL, and (2) is therefore > unlikely. However, she has a contact within Apple's legal team and is going > to make a few inquiries... although the VLC takedown was quite public, it's > unknown if a request for such a modification has really been attempted, > either through usual App Store channels or through a direct appeal to Jobs > himself. > > -Evan
