Re: EULAs and the DFSG
On Thu, Dec 05, 2002 at 02:51:34PM -0500, Brian T. Sniffen wrote:
> > On Thu, Dec 05, 2002 at 04:56:10AM +0100, Sunnanvind Fenderson wrote:
> >> This is very different from EULAs because with them the end user gets
> >> *less* rights that normally given by copyright
> >
> > The rights normally given by copyright are virtually nil; you have the
> > right to quote it for critical purposes and so on, but not the right
> > to use it. A "EULA" generally grants you the right to use it.
>
> Are you saying that if I buy a book, I don't have the right to read
> it, sit on it, or otherwise use it without a license to do so from the
> copyright holder?
...that paragraph didn't come out how I intended when I
started. Ignore it.
> >> Jakob Bohm <jbj@image.dk> writes:
> >> > Click agree to accept this license and the lack of warranty.
> >> > Click decline to not use, copy or distribute this software.
> >>
> >> The main problem is that that's simply not true - you _can_ use the
> >> software without accepting the license[1].
> >
> > Ah. I see your confusion now. You really can't legally use the
> > software without accepting the license, but the GPL imposes no
> > conditions upon your acceptance of paragraph 0 which grants you usage
> > rights. You could call this paragraph a "EULA", if you really wanted
> > to, but there's little point in doing so.
>
> That isn't the section 0 I'm looking at:
>
> Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are
> not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act
> of running the Program is not restricted
>
> That isn't a license to use the program, it's a note that copyright
> law already gives you that right without a license.
Only if you have legally acquired it. If I illegally acquire the
program, I don't have usage rights, AIUI. The GPL just happens to
place no restrictions upon this. I don't find the distinction between
"granting usage rights" and "granting the right to acquire the
software in a way that gives you usage rights" to be particularly
worthwhile.
> not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act
^^^^^^^
> of running the Program is not restricted
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
[And that's the part I was referring to.]
--
.''`. ** Debian GNU/Linux ** | Andrew Suffield
: :' : http://www.debian.org/ | Dept. of Computing,
`. `' | Imperial College,
`- -><- | London, UK
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