David Johnson wrote: >In the case of the GPL, and most other OSS licenses, I >>can completely ignore the >license, place a full page ad >in the NYT saying "I Disagree", get an official >judicial >decree that I have not agreed, and STILL be able to use >the software under >the terms of copyright law.
David, you're saying that, fundamentally, open-source licensing simply doesn't work under US law. I don't understand why you think that you can get a judge to declare that you may simply disregard the license. Would you please explain why you think that? How did you reach a conclusion like that? Noel -----Original Message----- From: David Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 9:50 PM To: John Cowan Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: OSD compliant shareware On Thursday 15 November 2001 07:15 am, John Cowan wrote: > > Just because some license declares that I have agreed to it does > > not make it so. > > In the case of the GPL, it says "If you agree to these rules, you may do > these things. If you don't agree, you are not bound, but you can't do > them anyway (because of the copyright law)." In the case of the GPL, and most other OSS licenses, I can completely ignore the license, place a full page ad in the NYT saying "I Disagree", get an official judicial decree that I have not agreed, and STILL be able to use the software under the terms of copyright law. Compare this to the typical proprietary license that unilaterally imposes terms of use that remove rights granted to the user by law. -- David Johnson ___________________ http://www.usermode.org pgp public key on website -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3 The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and/or work product and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3

