Re: Dangerous precedent being set - possible serious violation of the GPL
Anthony Towns writes:
> On Thu, Dec 02, 1999 at 01:05:58PM -0800, Seth David Schoen wrote:
> > Peter S Galbraith writes:
> > > (I'm not saying that slapping an EULA on top of GPL software is
> > > legal; I don't know that it is. If it's called a `license', it's
> > > different that saying you can have this GPL code for $10000)
> > Obviously _some_ EULAs on top of compilations containing GPLed software are
> > legal. Presumably not all of them are.
>
> Eh?
>
> EULA, is an `End User License Agreement'. The `End User' part's fairly
> plausible: it applies to people downloading from the Corel website. `License
> agreement' is, according to dict:
>
> 1. Authority or liberty given to do or forbear any act;
> especially, a formal permission from the proper
> authorities to perform certain acts or to carry on a
> certain business, which without such permission would be
> illegal; a grant of permission; as, a license to preach,
> to practice medicine, to sell gunpowder or intoxicating
> liquors.
>
> . This isn't necessarily overriding anyone's copyright, it needn't be
> anything more than permission to use their ftp server.
Sure, but _some_ EULAs are infringing:
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
By downloading or using the Software, you agree to be bound by the
following:
This software is Copyright (C) 1999 IlliberalSoft. All rights are
reserved. This software is licensed, not sold. The following
conditions apply to the software.
YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE. YOU MAY NOT
DECOMPILE, DISASSEMBLE, OR OTHERWISE REVERSE ENGINEER THE SOFTWARE.
YOU MAY NOT DISCLOSE THE SOFTWARE, OR ANY PORTION THEREOF, TO ANY
THIRD PARTY WITHOUT EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF ILLIBERALSOFT.
NO ONE HAS AUTHORITY TO MODIFY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT.
ANY STATEMENTS TO THE CONTRARY BY ANY PARTY, OR IN ANY DOCUMENTATION
ACCOMPANYING THE SOFTWARE, ARE VOID.
YOU MAY INSTALL AND RUN ONE COPY OF THIS SOFTWARE FOR YOUR OWN
PERSONAL NON-COMMERCIAL USE.
Some EULAs are _not_ infringing:
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
You hereby acknowledge that this software is provided with ABSOLUTELY
NO WARRANTY. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or
limitation of certain warranties, so the preceding limitation may
not apply to you.
Portions of this software were written by Friendly Partners LLP and
other contributors. All of this software is licensed under various
free software licenses, which permit you to use, modify, and
redistribute the software. Please see /usr/doc/copyrights for the
precise details of the license terms applicable to each component
of the software.
Friendly Partners LLP thanks you for using this software, and hopes
that you have a great day.
--
Seth David Schoen <schoen@loyalty.org> | And do not say, I will study when I
Temp. http://www.loyalty.org/~schoen/ | have leisure; for perhaps you will
down: http://www.loyalty.org/ (CAF) | not have leisure. -- Pirke Avot 2:5
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