Re: FWD: Analog licence violates DFSG
I am the upstream author of analog. Sorry for not contributing to this
discussion earlier. I just got back from holiday to find this forty-message
thread.
Contrary to what the filer of the original bug says, I did change this
clause after he contacted me before -- that's why it changed from (the
obviously wrong) "any action" to the current "any use of analog". I
assumed by his silence that I'd met his objections, but I'm still not
sure whether I did as he is still quoting from the old version of the
licence.
The reason for this clause was that I was advised by a lawyer (albeit
in an informal conversation) that I could be liable under UK law if a
user used the program to, for example, process user data against the
Data Protection Act. The US courts seem to me to be leaning this way
as well recently in cases on Napster et al.
Personally, I don't really see that this condition is DFSG-non-free
anyway in that it doesn't IMO "restrict anyone from making use of the
program in a specific field of endeavor". But I would also like
_informed_ opinions on whether I could be liable in the UK for users'
illegal use of analog. If so, would my clause cover me? Would a simple
disclaimer clause?
--
Stephen Turner http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~sret1/
Statistical Laboratory, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WB, England
"The new operating system will recover more easily from system crashes."
(Microsoft, aiming high with Windows Millennium)
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