On Tue, 5 Sep 2006 12:15:35 +0200 (CEST), "Alfred M. Szmidt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > If I distribute illegally, I am not bound by the license. See you > in federal court for copyright infringement. I won't have to see > you in state court where you try to compel specific performance of > the license. > > What you are basically saying is: If I commit murder, then I am not > bound by the law. Obviously, you are bound by the law, and in the > case of violating the license, bound by the license.
Your analogy is not valid. A license is not the law. It's an agreement between parties: you allow me to do something, I will do something in return. I am not bound by that until and unless I *choose* to do so. Copyright *is* the law. If I do not abide by it, I can be punished. This can be civil: you sue for an injunction and damages. It can be criminal: the police arrest me and the judge sentences me to a fine or jail time. Think about it. I can put a sign next to my door saying "If you enter my house, you indicate you are willing to paint my walls for free". If you then voluntarily enter, I can hold you to that sign and you're going to have to start painting. You saw the sign, you knew I needed someone to paint my walls, and now you're it. A burglar who breaks into my house the next night is committing a felony. I can call the police and have him arrested. He'll be sentenced to jail or he may have to pay a fine. According to you I can instead force him to paint my walls because of the sign. Merijn _______________________________________________ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss
