Re: CAFC took JMRI case under advisement

2008-07-03 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: I'm shocked by Amici's citation of Nimmer on Copyright talking about appropriate contractual provisions and appropriate contract construction... What!? I thought that licenses are not contracts in free as in free speech world. Perhaps you would be less shocked if you

Re: CAFC took JMRI case under advisement

2008-07-03 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Got it now? No. I still fail to understand what you find shocking about the citation of Nimmer. ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss

Re: CAFC took JMRI case under advisement

2008-07-03 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Eben Moglen is asking the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to overturn the clear and unequivocal language of the Supreme Court in De Forest Radio Tel. Tel. Co. v. United States, 273 U.S. 236, United States Supreme Court (1927): Whether this [act] constitutes a

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-03 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: However, nothing other than this License grants you permission to propagate or modify any covered work. That's NOT true. You failed to read the Terms and Conditions, where you would have seen this: To modify a work means to copy from or adapt all or part

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-03 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: Forget it, Hyman. You've thrown Terekhov into quote mode. That's OK - I haven't been here in a while, and I'm just getting my sea legs back, as it were. Anyway, I have to post - someone is WRONG on the Internet! :-) ___

Re: A proper infringement pleading

2008-07-03 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Why should we believe *any* self-serving statements issued by the SFLC? Because they keep filing suit, and keep reaching satisfactory settlements for their clients. The SFLC will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER allow a Federal Court to review the GPL license on the merits. It seems odd

Re: CAFC took JMRI case under advisement

2008-07-03 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Hyman Rosen wrote: I still fail to understand what you find shocking about the citation of Nimmer. Go and drop am email to Nimmer et. al. asking whether a copyright license is a contract or not. Let us know about his response. No, I don't think I will. People

Re: CAFC took JMRI case under advisement

2008-07-05 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Consider also the following: http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F3/110/110.F3d.749.96-2636.html I just did. Did you? Everything about that case acts in support of the provisions of the GPL, not against it. Albion's approving conduct--his granting of permission

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-05 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: You're confusing *contract terms* with scope of use restrictions on a copyright *grant of permissions* in a copyright contract. Nope. All copyright license are contracts. Within the contract are limitations on the actual uses of the work (called the scope of the license).

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-05 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Because of 17 USC 117, and the interpretation of the scope of that in the case law, most use of AGPL software in a software as a service environment will NOT involve modifying the software as defined by AGPL, and you won't be required to make your changes available.

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-07 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Notwithstanding ... is a contractual covenant and not a limitation of license scope I guess we'll find out whether or not that's true once someone tries to enforce the AGPL against an unwilling licensee. ___ gnu-misc-discuss

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-08 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: How can you not realize utter moronity of GNUish claims regarding the legal status of the GPL, Hyman? Perhaps because of http://www.bitlaw.com/source/cases/copyright/procd.html? ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-08 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Do you *really* believe that the GPL can bind all those downstream third-party beneficiaries? Of course. ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-08 Thread Hyman Rosen
John Hasler wrote: It doesn't bind them. It grants permission to them. I believe that the skeptics think that the provisions of the GPL that require you to do stuff don't apply while the permission it grants you to do stuff does. It's like vampires. They can't come into your house unless you

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-08 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: What is your permission good for? The permission is good for things that copyright prohibits. Whether the modification restrictions covered by the AGPL are prohibited by copyright law will be something that courts will eventually decide, as code grabbers decide to

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-09 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: In a jurisdiction without copyright law but with contract law, the GPL is a meaningless piece of paper. Not that there is such a place. But the ProCD case has shown that courts will honor shrinkwrap licenses, and I believe there are more cases where courts have upheld

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-10 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: Terms which you have to agree to before being able to see them? Yes, as long as you can back out after seeing them and not be forced to pay. The court said that having terms that are not visible is routine. For example, appliances come with limited warranties but don't

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-10 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: http://www2.verizon.net/micro/actiontec/actiontec.asp http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2008/06/verizon-ceo-doesnt-know-about.html http://www.jbb.de/urteil_lg_frankfurt_gpl.pdf

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-10 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: People have tried backing out of the shrink-wrap of bundled OEM Windows. More often than not, it takes considerable hassle and going to court. That's because they're buying a bundle, which isn't necessarily separable into parts. They would have much less trouble returning

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-10 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/resources/feedback/OIIFB_GPL3_20040903.pdf http://www.taylorwessing.com/uploads/tx_siruplawyermanagement/Wimmers_Klett_CR.de.pdf Every interesting court case has people commenting about it favorably and unfavorably. None of that changes the

Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?

2008-07-10 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: The software still comes with something like a if you don't accept, return this for a refund IIRC. Yes, that's what I meant by inartfully written. The OEM terms should have been that if you don't accept any part of the system, you can return the whole thing for a refund,

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-11 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: The Court's comprehensive docket records are starting to appear as if they have been spammed by a robot server from the the SFLC. If there are many violators, then there need to be many cases. It seems to take the filing of a court case to gain the attention of a violator, and

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-11 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: What is manifestly clear from case law is that once a copyright owner repeatedly brings meritless claims that are not within the jurisdiction of the court, the court will assume that the purported copyright owner is filing frivolous, harassing actions subject to F.R.Civ.P. Rule

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-11 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: This post on the William Patry copyright blog should strike fear into the hearts of the Monsoon gang and the SFLC. When a plaintiff is suing just for money and he has no ground at all for obtaining a money judgment, the fact that his rights may have been violated does not save his

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-11 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Section 2(b) of the GPL requires: b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this

Re: Taboo Subject

2008-07-12 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: See page 28 (2006 990 FORM). Eben is making an extra 2.96% interest on $157,000 loan (to himself, gaming the system) in addition to salary. All coming from charitable contributions. I make tax-deductible charitable contributions to the Institute for Justice, the

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-12 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Copyright violation just can't seriously come into play regarding software available under a free software license. In Germany, courts have ruled that it does. Nowhere has a court ruled that the GPL terms can be ignored and that the code licensed under it is free for

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-12 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: If the SFLC is actually settling these frivolous actions as their self-serving blog statements claim, then let them present their evidence. It's put-up or shut-up time for the SFLC. It is their burden of proof. It's pretty simple, actually. Just demonstrate a case where someone

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-12 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Sell? Are you sure? Yes. From a N.Y. Post article http://www.nypost.com/seven/10092006/news/regionalnews/dealing_the_cards_regionalnews_jeremy_olshan__transit_reporter.htm: Reselling a subway ride is a Class B misdemeanor carrying a $60 fine. But the rules

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-12 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: As far as I remember, Daniel Wallace actually tried some all the way approach in the U.S., and it was thrown out in the end because his theories did not even amount to a recognizable complaint. He doesn't count. First of all, he did it pro se, and you can't expect to

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-13 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: I don't see why. Because any customer could set itself up as a competitor, for one thing. ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-13 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: the SFLC dimisses its cases immediately after filing Are there any cases where the SFLC dismissed a case and then the source code for the GPL-licensed software in question remained unavailable? Unless you can point to such a situation, I would have to say that the suits served

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-14 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: That's not a settlement. In any of the cases filed and then dismissed by the SFLC, has the source for a program licensed under the GPL remained unavailable? In the Verizon case, it may well be that not all the details required by the GPL are being followed correctly,

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-14 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Apparently a few true GNU believers have been fooled by the SFLC filings. The rest of the world knows better. In any of the cases filed and then dismissed by the SFLC, has the source for a program licensed under the GPL remained unavailable?

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-14 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Why don't you post the final order (or link to it) resulting in closure of that case? http://www.terekhov.de/GPLvVerizon/DISMISSAL.pdf The source code for the GPLed software in question is available here: http://opensource.actiontec.com/ Whether or not Verizon is

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-14 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Do you mean the busybox source code? It is available. But there's also a whole bunch of closed source modules in router software not available in source code. Actiontec makes the source code available from its own website, for the versions of firmware that are on its

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-14 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: As if that matters. You're being an utter idiot, Hyman. The busybox source code was available on Actiontec's web site before the complaint against Verizon was filed. Perhaps the plaintiffs had a change of heart after they filed, then. Or perhaps Actiontec enhanced its

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-14 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Verizon is a vendor to end users... The routers are made by Actiontec and Verizon sends them to its customers, and has a website where people can download firmware upgrades. Actiontec has a website from which the source for the GPLed router software can be downloaded.

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-14 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: And what are those non-technical violations successfully litigated in court by SFLC? The purpose of the enforcement activities is so that when a binary GPL-licensed program is distributed, the vendor distributes the sources as well. The purpose of the SFLC actions

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Why don't you quote ratio decidendi of some case where defendant lost on option b? Do you know of instances where after the SFLC dismissed a case, the source code of the GPLed software in question was not made available? If the software was always made available,

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Methinks confusion reigns in the land of the brave GNU world. If the distributor of GPL-licensed code does not believe that the GPL is a valid license, then on what basis is the distribution happening? Copyright forbids it. Thus, distribution is evidence that the distributor has

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Hyman Rosen wrote: Germany - the GPL is legal and enforceable there. Not true. Appellate Judge Hoeren (Court of Appeal of Dusseldorf, Copyright Senate): http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/resources/feedback/OIIFB_GPL3_20040903.pdf That paper is a link to a critique

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Suppose ... We have a court ruling. It is what it is, regardless of whether you, or others, like it. It may be that another case will be decided differently, or that an appeals court will overturn the ruling, but until then, you're out of luck proclaiming that the GPL

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: You have a non precedential laughable bullshit produced by a bunch of drunken district court judges (with folks at higher level in German court system politely calling them idiots, sua sponte). Come back when the ruling is overturned and we'll talk.

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: That bullshit doesn't affect neither me nor you. I don't live under district court Munich I jurisdiction. Do you? I am not a copyright holder of free software, so none of this affects me. I just like to argue. ___

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Said Hyman the GNU user (not a copyright holder... arguing about alleged copyright power (not a contract) of the GNU GPL). The GNU makes you stupid. Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art. -- Charles

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: I don't need standing, ueber GNUtian ams. I'm not on demanding side (you must ... You must ... you must ... you must ... You must ... you must ... you must ... http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), you idiot. No one gets to copy and distribute other people's

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-15 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: A court would agree to that because of a doctrine under U.S. common law known as promissory estoppal: What in the world are you talking about? Promissory estoppel applies when someone is induced to action because of a promise made, and then the one who made the promise refuses to

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-16 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Regardless of the legal reasons for contract failure, the donated copyright permissions will be enforced by the courts. In your dreams, perhaps. Do you know of any instance where after a case was brought on the basis of the GPL, that the source was not made available afterwards?

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-16 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Futile goal. Right from the mouth of German GPL enforcer extraordinaire Harald Welte: http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2006/10/30/ (Some more thoughts on the results of GPL enforcement) You conveniently left out: I don't want to write about the legal results,

Re: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: GPL version 4]

2008-07-16 Thread Hyman Rosen
Fred Phillips wrote: We propose to release as soon as possible, version 4 of the General Public License. Oddly enough, I was just about to release the next version of the Microsoft End User License. It's very similar to the previous version, only the license and purchase fees are to be sent

Re: Attorney fees

2008-07-17 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Hyman Rosen wrote: What part in as Defendant argues don't you understand? Oh, OK, I guess you're right. It's probably the lawyers tossing in every theory to get something to stick. But they lost. ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-18 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Another postponement requested by SFLC. I gather that SFLC will move to dismiss against own clients no later than August 20, 2008. Probably because they are in negotiations to bring the defendants into compliance with the GPL, after which dismissal will be

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-18 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: So plaintiffs want to settle (having fruitless negotiations thus far) and are asking delay of a conference meant to encourage defendants to settle? The affidavit of service wasn't even filed until July 14. I expect that in this case as in so many others, court

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-18 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Judge: (To SFLC) *^$%%#$$%$##^%$*^(^% Case dismissed. Do you know of an instance where the SFLC ended a case and the GPLed sources were not made available? ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-18 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: And before you mention Actiontec: sources were available from Actiontec prior to SFLC sued Verizon. The complaint against Verizon is dated December 6, 2007: http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2007/dec/07/busybox/verizon.pdf This article says that the Actiontec FIOS

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-20 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: The term “pro bono” is used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment as a public service. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_bono says A judge may occasionally determine that the loser should compensate a winning pro bono counsel.

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-20 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Each time the SFLC has filed a suit, GPL'd source code has appeared. This correlation proves your hypothesis Every day an SFLC suit was filed, little children died in the Sudan. This correlation proves the SFLC is killing little children. It is reasonable to believe that when

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-20 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Man oh man. Hyman Rosen managed to find out that SFLC wants scripts... yet PRAYER FOR RELIEF doesn't mention scripts. Of course not. The prayer for relief is simply asking the defendant to stop illegally distributing the plaintiff's software, and to compensate

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-20 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Release Date Filename 11/27/2007 actiontec_opensrc_mi424wr.tar.gz Hmmm... looks like Actiontec is at least attempting to honor the license. I haven't researched what's in the tarball, but at least it's there. So, again, why is SFLC suing Verizon? Actiontec and

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-20 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: U. What settlements. The imaginary ones? The settlements it reaches in its cases. ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-20 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: That's right. I'm gonna' let *you* provide the *verifiable evidence* for *your* claims of settlements. I'm not going to do that. It's enough for me to provide reasonable inferences to counter the absurd claims that you and Terekhov make. There's no chance that either of you will

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-21 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: SFLC complaints are to be dismissed automatically (due to lack of jurisdiction). SFLC does dismiss complaints automatically before defendants file any response to the complaint and any ruling from judge (actually before having him a chance to even read the GPL and

Re: softwarecombinations paper Re: LGPL vs. GPL

2008-07-21 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: It's up to the FSF/SFLC to proof their belief. Thus far, all that we've seen is just a bunch of moronic complaints warranting automatic dismissal AND which were dismissed automatically by the SFLC. The plaintiffs have to prove their beliefs only to the extent that

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-21 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: How come that Verizon still doesn't make GPLed software available as required Hyman? I guess that the plaintiffs decided that having the manufacturer of the routers comply with the GPL was good enough for them, because it would be difficult to explain in court that

Re: softwarecombinations paper Re: LGPL vs. GPL

2008-07-21 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: It's up to the FSF/SFLC to proof their belief. Hyman Rosen wrote: The plaintiffs have to prove their beliefs only to the extent that the defendants challenge them. According to Hyman if I sue him and shortly dismiss the complaint prior ... then I'm surely has

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-21 Thread Hyman Rosen
Rahul Dhesi wrote: Somebody wants to hide something. Who -- the defendants or the SFLC? It's hard to tell. Why do you think anyone is hiding anything? For example, http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2008/mar/17/busybox-verizon/ says As a result of the plaintiffs agreeing to dismiss the

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-21 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: Although no independently verifiable evidence of record, plaintiffs face-saving blog posts prove their claims after case is voluntarily dismissed with prejudice! It is independently verifiable through the WaybackMachine and other websites that Verizon was distributing the

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-21 Thread Hyman Rosen
Rahul Dhesi wrote: I'm inclined to think that at least one of the parties would be harmed or embarrassed if the settlement became public -- otherwise they would have just posted it, on or near the same web page where the complaint was posted.

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Extreme Networks' offer regarding GPL'd stuff: http://www.extremenetworks.com/services/osl-exos.aspx So when did this page appear? And do they actually honor requests for the source? If they do, I would once again assume that a grabber has come around to meeting the

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- A telling admission by Aaron Williamson (AW1337)

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: The S.F.L.C. attorneys are *consistent* and we may *always* count on them. They have filed six consecutive incompetent pleadings in the Southern District of New York. In any of these cases, is there an instance where the source code of the GPLed software was not available once

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- A telling admission by Aaron Williamson (AW1337)

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: May 28th, 2008 Today I was admitted to practice And your point is what, exactly? Public interest groups often hire interns and people just starting out in the profession. The group gets relatively cheap labor, and the employee gets experience. For all your wailing

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
Rjack wrote: Hyman Rosen wrote: defeat and everyone else will regard as a victory. Uhh! Everyone is plural. Contrast with I. I don't understand what you mean. Do you believe that We will thus soon see another dismissal, which you will proclaim as a defeat and everyone

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- A telling admission by AaronWilliamson (AW1337)

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: None of those mirrors of out-dated busybox and other GPL'd source code that nobody really cares about comply with the FSF/SFLC view on complete corresponding source code regarding Infringing Products being made available by defendants. It is false that nobody really

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
John Hasler wrote: Sure, you could buy Debian CD sets from CheapBytes, throw away the source CDs, and sell the binary ones. So what? Are suggesting that company B contract with company A to do this? If so company A is company B's agent and the GPL is violated, not circumvented. I don't see

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: I was objecting to your use of the pronoun everyone. On what day was the election held that empowered you to speak for everyone? It's the isolating we :-) ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: Where is the point in throwing away valuable material? Where is the point in paying A for copying source and binaries _AND_ then make you unable to do copies yourself? That way Company A gets to have its cake and eat it to. It leverages available GPLed software so that

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: You mean if I pay somebody to drop a brick from a window when I signal him, I am not accountable for murder? If I hire a company to develop a program for me, that company is not me. I pay money, I provide a specification, they deliver the software to me, and that's that.

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: I was asking where the point was for B. B gets handsomely paid by A. ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: That's the same if I pay somebody to drop a brick when I signal him. It's not illegal to hire a company to develop software to your specifications, allow them to retain all rights to that software, and just buy copies from them. Any software vendor who accepts suggestions

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: B gets _paid_ by A and yet receives the disks by first _sale_ rather than acting as an agent of A? You'll have a _really_ hard time selling that to a judge. A gives specifications to B. B develops the software. A buys a bunch of copies of the software from B and resells

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: I recommend that you reread the thread and decide on who you call A and who B. It will make it easier for the judge to figure out things. Oops, I did mix them up. But in any case, there is no law of copyright that says that if I ask someone to develop software, even if I

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: You don't need to become the owner. It is enough if you become _responsible_. Enough for what? I just don't understand what you're saying. Remember, the GPL is just a copyright license. It has no notion of responsibility. It states only whether and how covered software

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: The courts should simply not enforce invalid contracts. LAW 101. To date, the courts did NOT enforce the GPL. And violations flourish. What a strange notion! The courts vigorously enforce copyright on songs and movies. And violations flourish.

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
Rjack wrote: The seller of the router, when he distributes it to a buyer purportedly promises to license the code to all third parties. The irony is that the GPL specifically excludes the *parties* to the contract (the distributors) since the class all third parties does not include the

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
Rahul Dhesi wrote: I think you folks are assuming that the GPL somehow gives you, the buyer of the router, the right to get source code from somewhere. It does, unless the chain of GPL licensing is somehow broken, perhaps through the use of the First Sale Doctrine.

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
John Hasler wrote: It also means that B is free to sell or give the software, source and all, to anyone, including A's customers. But A and B can enter into an arrangement where B will agree not to do this, perhaps with A paying B for this. ___

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: The trouble is you can't write a copyright license that controls all third parties as long as they follow the GPL. Congress specifically forbid this situation with 17 USC sec. 301. That's the federal preemption clause. What does that have to do with anything? Who says anything

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-22 Thread Hyman Rosen
John Hasler wrote: The sale is then no longer an arms-length transaction. A US Federal judge will see right through the subterfuge and tell A that it is a distributor. Why does it have to be arms-length? Where is the subterfuge? A software developer is perfectly free to enter an arrangement

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
David Kastrup wrote: But the courts have. What the courts have done is to uphold first sale, despite the vehement objections of the software developers who argued that EULAs disallowed it. This was recently decided in Softman v. Adobe. See http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/5628.

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: That PDF is dated May 14, 2008. Interestingly enough it predates June 25, 2008: Legal time is the very opposite of internet time. Delays and postponements of months at a time are routine. It should come as no surprise that actions by plaintiffs and defendants can

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- A telling admission by Aaron Williamson (AW1337)

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: The S.F.L.C. lawyers are filing repetitive, frivolous, cookie-cutter complaints in the S.D.N.Y. where they would never meet the requirements for federal jurisdiction. Subsequently they voluntarily dismiss the suits prior to the court ever reviewing the complaint. In every case

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: And I pointed out that at least in Germany of late violations of copyright in songs and movies by sharers are on decline without any court enforcement. Alexander Terekhov wrote: Or go to court and lose even more. Umm, right.

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- A telling admission by AaronWilliamson (AW1337)

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Contract breach (let's assume a valid contract)/not fulfilling contractual obligations is not illegal. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- track record

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: First you dis Microsoft You must be thinking of someone else. ___ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss

Re: SFLC's GPL court enforcement -- A telling admission by AaronWilliamson(AW1337)

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: [I]mplicit in a nonexclusive license These court decisions about nonexclusive licenses have been about implied licenses, not written ones, except for the recent Jacobsen v. Katzer case. (Which is therefore being appealed and criticized, but I will take my own advice

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
rjack wrote: all they have to to do is refrain from voluntarily dismissing one of their silly lawsuits and let a judge review their claims on the merits. Judges are not in the business of reviewing claims. If the parties to a dispute have agreed on a settlement then there is no case to

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: That's verifiably not true. It's certainly verifiable. Go to each SFLC filing, find the website of the company they sued, and see if there is a place from which to obtain sources (substituting ActionTec for Verizon, before you say anything). I don't have a burning

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Hyman Rosen wrote: [... substituting ...] 3.14159 = 299792458 Hyman science. For most of 2007, Actiontec FIOS routers were being shipped with GPLed software and without complying with the GPL. After the lawsuit ended, Actiontec FIOS routers are being shipped

Re: Circumventing the GPL

2008-07-23 Thread Hyman Rosen
Alexander Terekhov wrote: Now imagine that Actiontec ships Verizon's FiOS router boxes to Verizon and only Verizon (fully fulfilling the GPL obligations by providing the source code to its customer Verizon)... not end users. Who is supposed to provide the source code to you? No one. This is

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