JonathAn, it was obvious from the OP's post that he or she was talking about a one-off sale - «I would like to get permission from Google to sell *a* [my emphasis] computer that has Picasa on it». You are thus quite correct in noting that I was correct in pointing out that this hardly amounts to «commercial use». Your interpretation, however, of whether helping a fellow user with the installation of Picasa constitutes commercial activity with regard to the Picasa TOS is as doubtful as your assertion of moral superiority in following the license terms, as can easily be determined by asking if you or anyone else for that matter have knowledge of a case in which Google has taken someone who did so to court for license infringement. In the case that one was considering setting up a business in which one charged a fixed amount for installing Picasa for users, one might well be advised to consult Google and ask whether doing so would be regarded as an infringement of the Picasa license terms, which are not as free as those under FLOSS licenses like the various GPU versions, but this is not the question posed by the OP nor the one to which I responded. Licenses, being crafted by lawyers for every eventuality are difficult to interpret, but that's no reason to spread FUD when a fellow users inquires if selling a computer which has Picasa installed on it breaks the Picasa TOS. Do you wish to suggest that, in addition to Picasa, other Google products like, e g, the Google Toolbar or the Chrome browser must be uninstalled from my computer if I wish to sell it to another user, otherwise I risk being sued by Google ? I submit that Google would make itself the object of ridicule were it to attempt to bring such a case, and it would be laughed out of court....
Henri On Feb 19, 8:46 pm, Jonathan Kamens <[email protected]> wrote: > Henri, > > If the OP was talking about selling a used computer to someone else, > i.e., a one-off sale of used property a la "I don't need this computer > anymore so I'm going to try to get a few bucks off of it to offset the > cost of its replacement," then you are right, that's not commercial use. > > If, on the other hand, the OP was talking about selling computers as a > profit-making enterprise, and including Picasa pre-installed on the > computers sold for that purpose, then I assure you that you are > incorrect in your interpretation of both the law and Picasa's license > agreement. > > As I said in my last message, if there were no value in pre-installing > Picasa, then there would be no reason for the OP to do it before selling > the computers. Therefore, /ipso facto/ there is commercial value in the > Picasa installation, either in terms of making the product more > attractive to potential buyers or in terms of being able to charge a > higher price for it. That value makes such use of Picasa commercial, > and as such, the OP would have to get permission from Google to use > Picasa in that way. > > As for charging someone for performing the service of installing Picasa > on his computer, that would clearly and unequivocally fall under the > license wording requiring permission if you want to "sell... any > services... associated with or derived from the Picasa software." > Installing Picasa is clearly a service associated with Picasa. > > There are two choices: you can games trying to skirt around the terms of > Google's license agreement, or you can do your best to honor the intent > of the agreement. I know which choice I'd make, but in a world where so > many people seem to think that stealing movies and music is OK, I can > understand how the correct choice might be less obvious to others. > > Jonathan Kamens > > P.S. It's JonathAn, not JonathOn. Thanks. > > On 02/19/2010 02:33 PM, mhenriday wrote: > > > Jonathon, I find your interpretation of the Picasa commerical use > > clause intriguing, but inaccurate. Selling the *computer* is hardly > > making commerical use of *Picasa*. The installer presumably installed > > Picasa on the computer to use it himself - note the phrasing �sell a > > computer that has Picasa on it� not �sell a computer on which I've > > installed Picasa to make it more commerically attractive�. As I > > pointed out above, the OP can sell the computer without Picasa > > installed, then install Picasa as a service to the purchaser - nothing > > in the Picasa license would indicate that helping someone else to > > install Picasa, even if one were paid for one's time, is to be > > construed as �commercial use�. My suggestion is that unless you can > > provide an authoritative statement from Google to the effect that > > �Picasa� - or for that matter, the Google Toolbar, etc, must be > > removed from a computer prior to its being sold to another party, you > > cease scaring people unnecessarily.... > > > Henri -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google-Labs-Picasa-for-Linux" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-labs-picasa-for-linux?hl=en.
