Lawrence E. Rosen writes: > the courts are clear about the importance of such notices for > contract formation.
What attributes of a license make a contract necessary? I know that you need a contract to disclaim warranties, but I'm not sure that it's necessary to disclaim a warranty on a gift. > I'll change my mind about this only after you succeed in changing > the law. That's what I'm trying to do. I have mostly contempt for legislators, but judges and lawyers form law in a much wiser manner. There isn't an awful lot of precedent in regards the distribution of free software, and what precedent exists is only on a District level. I believe that, by codifying existing practice, we can change the law -- or at least affect judge's decisions. At the end of the day, Larry, the community doesn't want to use software for which it has to contract to use. Since it's our job as an industry advocacy group to encourage the production and use of open source software, it's our responsibility to tell the producers of open soruce that the users of open source aren't going to contract for its use. -- -russ nelson http://russnelson.com | Crynwr sells support for free software | PGPok | businesses persuade 521 Pleasant Valley Rd. | +1 315 268 1925 voice | governments coerce Potsdam, NY 13676-3213 | +1 315 268 9201 FAX | -- license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3

