Re: Dangerous precedent being set - possible serious violation of the GPL
On Wed, 1 Dec 1999, Joseph Carter wrote:
> I think imposing additional conditions on the use of software downloaded
> from Corel in fact contaminates EVERY license. And while some of the
It does, but Corel isn't following the DFSG, so I don't think it matters.
> by Corel to their licenses, I am quite convinced that the GPL forbids
> additional restrictions placed on how GPL'd software may be used and by
> whom.
It does, but that isn't what Corel is doing. The GPL forbids you from
preventing *others* from distributing the software. It does not require
you to distribute the software to whoever wants it. If I have GPL
software in my possession and I don't want to give it to you, fine. The
reason doesn't matter - either you won't pay the fee, you're under 18, you
don't want the software bundled with it, you don't have a beard, whatever.
That is what Corel is doing, and it's allowable under the GPL. It's not
traditional behavior, but it's within the terms of the license.
Corel just can't tell their customers what they can do with the GPL
software once they have a copy. And they haven't. Whether they have an
ethical responsibility to tell their customers about this, and whether
they have fulfilled that, if applicable, is subject to debate.
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