John Cowan wrote: > > Well, I could answer that in two, conflicting ways. If distribution becomes > > irrelevant, the spirit of the GPL in that respect is obsolete, isn't it? > > I don't see how that could happen, unless bandwidth (including the last > mile) becomes "too cheap to meter".
I don't think that's relevant. Web Services will, by definition, be served this way. That they may not be available (or viable) to some is a different issue. > Suppose A publishes a GPLed book describing some arcane subject, and B obtains a > copy of it. C now mails questions to B along with payment, and B answers > the questions out of the book and mails back the replies. In principle, > C could read the book himself, but may not have the time or desire.) Surely A's > rights are not impinged on here? > > Are things different if B adds his own marginal notes to the book? Is B really > required by (the spirit of) the GPL to make those notes available to C? I see your point, but I still think that if we're going down that line you can say the same things about GPLd software (private mods installed at a client site, the client doesn't need the mods, so what's the problem, eh?). Emile -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3
