On 9/1/07, Nicholas S-A <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> On Aug 31, 2007, at 8:16 PM, Timothy Normand Miller wrote:
>
> > In other words, lacking more knowledge, the OGP should avoid even many
> > legal activities that someone might take issue with, erroneously or
> > not.
>
> Would it be legal for us to look at/use the Bochs BIOS(s)?
> Actually, taking a quick look at the BIOS source (under LGPL),

I don't see why not!  The problem with looking at a _proprietary_ BIOS
is not that we'd necessarily be doing anything illegal, but that they
don't want us competing with them.  They would not hesitate to CLAIM
that we did something infringing or illegal if it suits their
purposes.  The Bochs people, on the other hand, are developing Free
Software, encouraging others to share in their knowledge.  They would
not object to us learning from their work.  They would also not object
to us using their source code under their licensing terms.

The only situation where we have to be careful HERE is this:  Part of
what Traversal was formed for is so that the OGP could commercially
license its IP.  But that means that Traversal has to hold the
copyright (or have an unrestrained license).  The OGP can use any
libre stuff they want, but Traversal needs to be very careful about
what we may relicense under other terms.  It's just as bad for
Traversal to infringe on a Free Software copyright as it would be for
us to infringe on any other "intellectual property."

-- 
Timothy Normand Miller
http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~millerti
Open Graphics Project
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