Re: Squeak in Debian?
"Lex Spoon" <lex@cc.gatech.edu> wrote:
> Walter Landry <wlandry@ucsd.edu> wrote:
> > The lawsuit may be completely bogus. The distributors are still
> > obligated to defend Apple. I would say that being required to defend
> > a company that may be on the other side of the world against frivolous
> > lawsuits goes a little too far. A business or person can evaluate the
> > local laws and decide whether they want to assume the liability
> > associated with distributing free software. I think it is too much to
> > ask for them to worry about laws in other jurisdictions.
>
> BUT, we are only obligated to the extent the case deals with our own
> actions. I do not see a problem with this. That seems good and proper
> to stand up for our own actions. The clause does *NOT* make us liable
> for all legal attacks on Apple regarding Squeak.
J. Random CD distributor on Battlestar Galactica distributes a copy of
Squeak to his fellow argonauts. The Silons sue Apple for contributory
copyright infringement, citing the distribution by J. Random. Now
J. Random is obligated to defend Apple in US court, even though
J. Random doesn't even know where Earth is.
> I do not understand your issue about locality. The business in question
> is us, Debian. We already have a distribution server at Berkeley, so we
> already need to evaluate and comply with the laws of northern
> California.
The CD distributors are not part of SPI, the non-profit that holds
title to the vast resources of Debian. In addition, the Debian
mirrors only look at local law when evaluating whether to mirror
Debian. They don't look up Northern California law.
Regards,
Walter Landry
wlandry@ucsd.edu
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