Re: [Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>] Re: Debian & BSD concerns
On 15 Mar 1999, John Hasler wrote:
> Bruce Sass writes:
> > How's this... What would happen if I was to have a free program depend
> > on patent code distributed with a free license,...
>
> This is difficult to answer because I don't know how to formulate a free
> license for a patent.
>
> > ...then the license of the patent code became non-free at some later
> > date.
>
> Free licenses cannot be revoked.
>
> > I'm trying to get at the difference between depending on someone elses
> > library routines (where a license change requires a new release?),...
<...>
> I'm not yet sure how to accomplish the same thing with a patent. You must
> understand that the whole notion of freedom is antithetical to intellectual
> property law. The IP lawyer's idea of a license is an agreement between
> the owner of the IP and an individual licensee in which the licensee is
> granted limited rights in return for money.
That is the first thing I mentioned, and is why...
> > I'm trying to get at the difference between depending on someone elses
> > library routines (where a license change requires a new release?), and
> > depending on patent code (where the license may change without a new
> > release?).
>
> One does not patent code. One patents an algorithm (though the IP lawyers
> deny it).
:-\ s/patent code/a patent algorithm/
> This discussion belongs on debian-legal.
In light of the giant ascii art "NO" (to including something about
patents in the DFSG) that had just been posted to -devel, I was
expecting a quick answer (and no need to subscribe to another list).
<shrug>
As a worst case scenario,
a patent could be like a `revoke-on-a-whim' clause in a license.
Simply because it is not at all clear what would happen if a party and
a patent holder stood in front of a judge, and the party was trying to
argue that the patent holder can not set the terms of the license.
To take it a step further,
since the outcome of the above conflict would not necessarily be the
same in all jurisdictions, it could be argued that the license
may not always be the same for everyone.
Is a patent a one way ticket into non-free?
- Bruce
Reply to: