Quoting Lennart Augustsson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> I'm trying to understand what the copyright for the firmware for the
> Keyspan serial adapters really means. It's certainly not GPL...
>
> "The firmware contained herein as keyspan_usa18x_fw.h is
> Copyright (C) 1999-2000 Keyspan, A division of InnoSys Incorporated
> ("Keyspan"), as an unpublished work. This notice does not imply
> unrestricted or public access to this firmware which is a trade secret of
> Keyspan, and which may not be reproduced, used, sold or transferred to any
> third party without Keyspan's prior written consent. All Rights Reserved.
>
> To me it sounds like even ftp-ing a copy of the source code for
> the driver made me violate the copyright. Can anyone enlighten me?
If you downloaded it from Keyspan's server then the URI of the file
can be understood as "Keyspan's prior written consent" because the
only purpose of that URI would be to allow you to download the file,
and only Keyspan could create that URI, and without it you wouldn't
be able to find the file.
In other words, if one intentionally puts a file on the Net I treat
this as a written consent to access the file (as opposed to cracking
a server and stealing some data). The writing is the link to the
file. Essentially it says "download me".
Of course, everyone knows that I am not a lawyer, so beware.
Cheers,
Dmitri
--
I've discovered that using VMS is a lot like driving a nail with your head:
sure, you eventually get something practical done, but it usually results
in a headache and some blood loss.
(submitted by Sean A. Simpson)
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