Hi, I try to understand what the patent clauses of the current GPL 3 draft would mean for me.
Let's assume, that GPL 3 is finalized as is today, and that at that time the country I live in - Switzerland - still does not allow patents on software. I write some software on my own, and because I live in Switzerland I do not care about if what I write is infringing any patents in some other countries. I decide to not keep the software for myself but rather make it available to others by publishing it. Q1: Can I use GPL 3 or would that force me to verify my software is encumbered by patents to not violate myself the terms of the GPL 3, or be forced to license the patent I would infringe outside of the place I live? Q2: If answer to Q1 ist that I cannot use "vanilla" GPL 3, am I allowed to add a clause through which I transfer the obligation to check for patent infrigements and to apply for a patent licence to the user of my software? Q3: If answer to Q2 ist, that I cannot transfer the obligation to check for patents to the user, can I simply license the software under GPL 3 with the added clause, that someone may use the software only in places which do not know about software patents? In the preamble to the above three questions I assumed I write some software totally on my own. But I could also start with some software written by someone else which is already placed under the GPL 3 and which yet does not infringe on any patents. Now I make some additions and living in a place not knowing about software patents I do not care to check whether my added code infringes on any patents which might exist outside of Switzerland. Q4: Am I allowed to do such modifications and redistribute the software, or am I forced by the provisions of GPL 3 to either make sure my modification does not infringe someones patents or license myself the patent? Q5: If the answer to Q4 is that I am not allowed to do such modficiations, but answer to Q2 says that I can transfer the obligtion to check for patent infringements and licence the patent to the user, am I then allowed to add such a clause to the licence of my modified software even though the software I used as base did not have such a clause? Q6: If the answer to Q4 is that I am not allowed to do such modficiations, but answers to Q3 says that I can limit the places where the software can be used, am I then allowed to add such a clause to the license of my modified software even though the software I used as base did not have such a clause? >From my understanding of GPL 3 I suspect The answers to Q2 (and thus Q5) are that I am not allowed to do that. For the other questions I'm unsure how to understand what the current draft says. I appreciate any answers to my questions. Thank you, claudio _______________________________________________ Gnu-misc-discuss mailing list Gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss
