Re: Macromedia Flash player distribution
(I seam to have replied off-list the first time)
On 8/11/05, Vidar Bakke <vb@skolelinux.no> wrote:
> Hi
> From the to-do list in:
>
> http://developer.skolelinux.no/dokumentasjon/debian-
> edu_sarge_installation.txt
> "Read the fine print of license for Macromedia Flash to check if we are
> allowed to include flashplayer out of the CD"
>
> The answer is yes according to the information posted on
> macromedia.com [1] [2]. Please note that I did *not* read the
> license since Macromedia "...In order to apply for the license,
> you must have a Macromedia membership"
The text of licence is here:
http://www.macromedia.com/licensing/distribution/license/
I've read trough it and there is not much proplem distribution Flash
bundled with Skolelinux "Product" as long as we claim that Flash
"enables" our Product. After such bundling the distribution can also
take place over Internet (according to 2.a.3):
"""
2.
(a) License.
Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agreement and during the
Term, Macromedia grants to Licensee a non-exclusive, non-transferable,
worldwide license to use the Software internally, reproduce the
Software and distribute the Software to end users, in all cases solely
for use on the Authorized Operating Systems, by the following means:
1. through an Intranet, for internal use only;
2. bundled in physical media (such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, hard disk,
etc.) solely as part of, with, or in conjunction with, Licensee
Product; or
3. through the Internet to end users, solely as a part of or with
Licensee Product (such as bundled in Licensee's installer which, in
turn, is downloaded from the Internet).
"""
Also people that have downloaded Skolelinux can distribute it further
if we claim that they are distributors (same point):
"""
Distribution and reproduction pursuant to (ii) and (iii) may occur
indirectly through distributors or resellers and such distributors and
resellers may reproduce the Software in connection with these
distribution activities. Licensee shall impose the restrictions in
this Section 2 upon any such distributors or resellers.
"""
In order to be compliant with the rest of the licence, we must:
* not change the binaries or their installation locations
* not decompile, reverse engineer, ...
* not provide the Flash player as a standalone product or service over
Internet (think, publicly available terminal server running only a
copy of Flash player). It is ok to do that over Intranet (as in
schools internal network).
* put a standart Macromedia Flash player licence somewhere to insure
compilance with 2.b.10:
"""
Licensee will distribute, and will ensure that its distributors and
resellers distribute, the Software under an enforceable end user
license containing the following minimum terms in favor of Licensee
and its suppliers: a) prohibition against distribution and copying, b)
prohibition against modifications and derivative works, c) prohibition
against decompiling, reverse engineering, disassembling, and otherwise
reducing the software to a human-perceivable form, d) provision
indicating ownership of software by Licensee and its suppliers, e)
disclaimer of all applicable statutory warranties, to the full extent
allowed by law, f) industry standard limitation of liability,
including a disclaimer of indirect, special, incidental, punitive, and
consequential damages.
"""
As I see it, there are no major problems to inclusion, but this still
should be clarified with Macromedia's lawyers.
--
Best regards,
Aigars Mahinovs mailto:aigarius@debian.org
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