On 4/20/2010 1:25 PM, RJack wrote:
There is *no* legal definition of what an "open" license is
Open licenses authorize actions otherwise prohibited by copyright law provided that persons using this authorization comply with provisions specified by the license. The licenses are open in the sense that they are generally offered to anyone who has a copy of the covered work, they require no communication from the person using the authorization to the rights holder, and they allow for further recipients to avail themselves of the same permissions. They differ in obvious ways from normal copyright licenses which are two-party agreements where the rights holder authorizes copying and distribution in exchange for some consideration and both parties sign off on the deal. What you fail to realize, in your hatred of the principles for which the GPL stands, is that courts will find, and have found, that open licenses make sense, and are a legitimate expression of the exclusive rights granted by copyright law. You can bring out your law dictionary definitions all you like, but when something makes powerful sense, it will be accepted. It's not unlike the Supreme Court allowing recording of broadcast television for time-shifting. It appeared to many to be a slam-dunk case of infringement, and indeed, four of the justices thought so, and yet it was declared legal. The CAFC decision points the way. _______________________________________________ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss