Re: Time for some Clarity (KDE, Qt, Open Source...)

["Stephen J. Carpenter" <sjc@delphi.com>]

On Fri, Jul 10, 1998 at 01:17:16AM +1000, Hamish Moffatt wrote:
> On Thu, Jul 09, 1998 at 11:17:14AM -0400, Stephen J. Carpenter wrote:
> > I know this isn't the right place for this but...
> > What an amazingly sensible and fair set of laws! I like that
> > the very idea that "if you get something for free you can't sue for money"
> > (with those obvious exceptions)...I wish it were that way everywhere
> > Of course...its actually sensible...which is why here in the US I
> > doubt that is the case...
> 
> Do your obvious exceptions include IP infringements? 

My obvious exceptions were whathe said in the original message 
ie if I give you a trojan and it erases your hard drive, then 
that is malicous and right I should be just as liable as if I handed
you a pcakge with a bomb inside that looked like a toaster oven

as for IP...I am still forming my opinions on how I feel about 
Intellectual Property...in many ways I consider it a silly concept to start
with but...I havn't fully finished my personal philosophical exploration 
of it...

> For example,
> if I develop a piece of technology, and give it away for free,
> but it still infringes some company's patents, then I think I should
> be liable.

I am not sure if I agree...then again (see above) I am not sure yet
if I even agree with the whole idea of patents. I am very sure
I think in the case of software algorythms I am against the whole
idea of patents on algorythms....

> Similarly, if I give you a trojan, even if it is for freem
> I don't see why I should be exempt.

yes there I agree...there is no difference between *KNOWINGLY* giving someone
a trojan (of course if you unknowingly do it...chances are you are
just as much a victum of it as they are) that is no difference from
handing them a package with a bomb inside marked "Toaster Oven"

What I mean by sensible...well...
I once (back when I was a windows user and believed in writting shareware...
oh my what a mess that was the one time I did...) had an idea...

you know those programs which "turn off" if you don't register after so many
days? I came up witha new idea for one...
after 30 days...it doesn't turn off...but when you start it up 
it comes up with a dialog telling you that your licence has expired.
Then it gives you the option to continue...if you choose to continue it
comes up with the "Wheel of Dispair".

You then have the option to "Quit now" or "Spin the Wheel" The wheel is 
marked in differnt sections (think wheel of fortune) with spaces
"Free Ride" "Random Data Corruption" "Format Hard Drive" "Delete Random File"
IF you spin the wheel it spins, randomly chooses one...and carries
out what the slice says...then (if still possible) lets
you run the program ...then you have to do it again next time
you want to runthe program...

my thoughts: this is fair...it does exactly what it says it would do
and gives you the option to not run the program..you are only
locked into your choice after you click "Spin the Wheel"...and
you can alwauy "register" which is waht you are suposed
to do anyway (it also serves to satisfy my own
sick sense of humor :) )

I was told that this would be a bad idea and I could get sued if I releace
such a thing...so I never did. 
-Steve

-- 
/* -- Stephen Carpenter <sjc@delphi.com> ------------------------------ */
A favorite quote from a source I forget:
"Only Microsoft can take an algorithim that has been under years of
public scrutiny and weaken it to the point where the entire key space
can be searched in 3 days"


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