On Thu, 13 Nov 2003, Roy T. Fielding wrote: > Termination of the patent license does not imply that the recipient > cannot use the software. If they have a license via some other > means, do not believe the patent is enforceable, or simply do not use > the software in a way that would cause infringement, then even the > loss of the specific patent grant in this license does not affect > their rights. These particular arguments apply equally well to copyright law. [Eg, if termination of a copyright license doesn't imply that the recipient can't use the software either if they have a license via some other means.] Furthermore, there are a substantial number of contributors who might be interested in copyright reciprocity clauses as well. Is there any particular reason why the reciprocity clause needs to be added? [Which contributors|contributions are under discussion here?[1]] If the contributor isn't interested in freely licensing their patent claims, perhaps they shouldn't be contributing code that covers their patent? Again, what I'm seriously concerned about is the vast number of users who use and/or modify Apache licensed software that is present in Debian suddenly being unable to make a counterclaim in a litigiation against them without having the patents of the supposedly free software they are using becomming an issue when they weren't previously. [As I'm sure, you're concerned about contributors sneaking in patent protected code and then attempting to enjoin and/or charge users of Apache for.] Don Armstrong 1: Don't underestimate the pressure and/or encouragement that can be brought to bear in these issues... there are a large number of Free Software supporters who are more than willing to assist companies in making their software and IP freely available and/or useable. -- The attackers hadn't simply robbed the bank. They had carried off everything portable, including the security cameras, the carpets, the chairs, and the light and plumbing fixtures. The conspirators had deliberately punished the bank, for reasons best known to themselves, or to their unknown controllers. They had superglued doors and shattered windows, severed power and communications cables, poured stnking toxins into the wallspaces, and concreted all of the sinks and drains. In eight minutes, sixty people had ruined the building so thouroughly that it had to be condemed and later demolished. -- Bruce Sterling, _Distraction_ p4 http://www.donarmstrong.com http://www.anylevel.com http://rzlab.ucr.edu
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