%% Rich Salz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
rs> My questions about locality, however, are still highly pertinent.
rs> Let's look at IDEA, and let's assume that the OpenSSL README is
rs> correct in stating that IDEA is not patentented in Australia, but
rs> is patented in the UK. If OpenSSL were (still:) maintained by
rs> Australian nationals, then could Debian distribute IDEA? Suppose
rs> the exact same code is now maintained by a group of folks in the
rs> UK and Switzerland, where it's patented? Suppose the groups
rs> switch, and the Debian project moves en masse to Australia
rs> (perhaps bought out by Linuxcare, let's say :) while the OpenSSL
rs> folks stay inside a patented country?
Well, first note that Debian is a not-for-profit, 100% volunteer
organization and as such can't really be bought out by anyone--for one
thing, there's no one to pay :).
Anyway, you're right, this stuff is complex. No moreso for Debian than
for any other software organization, though, I daresay.
In addition to the free/non-free dichotomy, Debian also has a "non-us"
package area. Programs which are not legally exportable from the
U.S. are not placed in the "normal" Debian area. Instead, they are
placed in the "non-us" area, and that area is completely populated and
managed by developers who live in more enlightened countries, at least
from the point of view of cryptography export restrictions.
It may be (although I'm not sufficiently close to this to know) that
other issues (such as patent concerns) can cause software to be placed
in the Debian non-us area.
While this is, hopefully, sufficient to allow the legal creation of a
public archive site containing this software, obviously it's up to every
individual person using the site to determine whether downloading and
installing this software violates the laws in their local
jurisdictions.
rs> Unfortunately, it seems that (Debian) freedom depends on where the
rs> question is being asked.
I think this is true almost regardless of what you put in the above
parentheses :)
--
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Paul D. Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> HASMAT--HA Software Methods & Tools
"Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
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These are my opinions---Nortel Networks takes no responsibility for them.
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