Re: ITP: keynote -- Decentralized Trust-Management system
On Thu, Jul 19, 2001 at 11:49:10AM -0500, John Hasler wrote:
> "Permission to use, copy, and modify this software without fee is hereby
> granted,..."
>
> Is ambiguous. While the intent is probably to state that the permission
> requires no fee, it can be read as meaning that permission to copy etc
> without fee is being granted.
>
> A better phrasing might be
>
> "Permission to use, copy, and modify this software is hereby granted
> without fee,.."
It's not ambiguous; use, copying, and modification do not imply a third
party. Distribution does, but distribution is not mentioned. In the absence
of any implication of a third party, the "without fee" can only be taken
to mean between you (the recipient of the license) and the licensor.
In the absence of any mention of distribution however, I don't believe
that we are entitled to assume that distribution is permitted. So, not
dfsg-compliant.
Again, IANAL, but that's what it says in *english*.
Just ask the author their intention and then that they clarify it.
--
Nick Phillips -- nwp@lemon-computing.com
Never commit yourself! Let someone else have you committed.
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