Re: GFDL and Anonymity --- another problem?

[Mathieu Roy <yeupou@gnu.org>]

Anthony DeRobertis <asd@suespammers.org> a tapoté :

> Several parts of the GFDL (e.g., 4b, 4i) seem to prohibit anonymous
> modifications to a document. Quoting 4b:
> 
> 	List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities
> 	responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified
> 	Version, ....
> 
> If this requires an actual name, it seems this might fail the
> Chinese[1] Dissident Test.
> 
> Compare this to GPL 2a:
> 
> 	You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
> 	stating that you changed the files and the date of any change.
> 
> I think "you" can reasonably be interpreted to include pseudonyms,
> thus preserving anonymity, or even not putting any name at all.

A license is valid because there is a known copyright holder that
explicitely said that his work can be distributed under this license.

       "0. This License applies to any program or other work which
           contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it
           may be distributed under the terms of this General Public
           License."

So I wonder how it would be possible for a license to be valid with an
anonymous copyright holder.

The copyright holder can be an individual or a group, but in any case
an entity recognized by the law.

Please, take a look a the section "How to Apply These Terms to Your
New Programs" of the GPLv2.

        "How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs

        If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the
        greatest possible use to the public, the best way to achieve
        this is to make it free software which everyone can
        redistribute and change under these terms.

        To do so, attach the following notices to the program. It is
        safest to attach them to the start of each source file to most
        effectively convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file
        should have at least the "copyright" line and a pointer to
        where the full notice is found.
 
        one line to give the program's name and an idea of what it does.
        Copyright (C) yyyy  name of author

        [...]
 
        Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and
        paper mail.  

        If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice
        like this when it starts in an interactive mode:  

        Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) year name of author
        Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details
        type `show w'.  This is free software, and you are welcome
        to redistribute it under certain conditions; type `show c' 
        for details.

        [...]

        You should also get your employer (if you work as a
        programmer) or your school, if any, to sign a "copyright
        disclaimer" for the program, if necessary. Here is a sample;
        alter the names:  

        Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright
        interest in the program `Gnomovision'
        (which makes passes at compilers) written 
        by James Hacker.

        signature of Ty Coon, 1 April 1989
        Ty Coon, President of Vice"

I would not be surprised if in many countries software with no author
is in fact a proprietary software.



[Funny to see how some people here are more interested in finding new
issues before making any constructive proposal to fix the existing
ones] 



-- 
Mathieu Roy
 
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