My concern is simple. I do not believe there is anything in the design that would make it possible to "successfully" sue me. But it is a standard business practice among the less ethical corporations to sue frivolously to bankrupt their opponents and force them to either abandon or sell out a product. Because of it, if I am successful at stopping spam I am fairly certain that there will be many a frivolous lawsuit for that purpose.
And as you state, the idea is so old that its origins are lost and therefore fully in the public domain, even though nobody has bothered to implement it in a viable way. My plan is to do so, in a way that is convenient to both recipients and desirable senders. And if enough people use it, a multi-billion dollar industry will feel it and the groundless lawsuits will start. But since I will not be protected from them, I don't think I can risk contributing it. I will probably still use James. But rather put it inside my application instead of having my application be part of James. If I understand the ASF license, it permits me to include James in my product, without any license fees. Is that correct? Bruno -----Original Message----- From: ext Danny Angus [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 11:04 AM To: James Developers List Subject: RE: Contributing a mailet 2. If this anti-spam measure is as successful as I expect it to be, I fear that the spammers of the world will try anything to kill it and the Microsofts of the world will try to steal it. Because of it I have been sitting on this design for 3 years. Is it true that the Apache Software Foundation provides free legal defense for its contributors if they are sued as a consequence of a contribution? If it is not, I will not be able to contribute it and will have to go make it commercial just to make enough money to defend myself. Erm well not quite, the ASF protects individuals against action being taken personally against them by itself being the owner, and licensor of the software. It is therefore a duty of all commiters to ensure that nothing is knowingly admitted which would make us vulnerable to legal action. In practice this is about IP. By legitimately donating the code to the ASF you are no longer the person your imagined enemies would want to sue to stop the software from being distributed! However if your contribution doesn't violate and IP ownership or Patents then I fail to see how any *reasonable* piece of software could result in you being pursued. What exactly is there about your proposal, which in itself doesn't sound very novel, that makes you think anyone would sue you? d. *************************************************************************** The information in this e-mail is confidential and for use by the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient (or responsible for delivery of the message to the intended recipient) please notify us immediately on 0141 306 2050 and delete the message from your computer. You may not copy or forward it or use or disclose its contents to any other person. As Internet communications are capable of data corruption Student Loans Company Limited does not accept any responsibility for changes made to this message after it was sent. For this reason it may be inappropriate to rely on advice or opinions contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. Neither Student Loans Company Limited or the sender accepts any liability or responsibility for viruses as it is your responsibility to scan attachments (if any). Opinions and views expressed in this e-mail are those of the sender and may not reflect the opinions and views of The Student Loans Company Limi! ted. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept for the presence of computer viruses. ************************************************************************** --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
