Re: Desert Island Test [Re: DRAFT: debian-legal summary of the QPL]
* Sean Kellogg <skellogg@u.washington.edu> [040712 21:15]:
> > While the imagery of a computer programmer sitting on a lonely desert
> > isle hacking away with their solar powered computer, drinking
> > coconuts, and recieving messages in bottles might be silly, the rights
> > that such a gedanken is protecting are anything but.
> Not to argue against the intent of the Desert Island Test, but at least in the
> United States, such a freedom is provided by the law/courts, not the license.
That might be the case. There might even be similar things in most other
jurisdictions. But that only shows that the desert-island-test is only a
very simple image.
Just imagine you are alone on an island and there is some ship coming
along every week offering you to bring a disc to the mainland for only
some thousend dollars. (And assume furthermore you have the money for
one sending).
Or even imagine you are in some rural area in some less developed
country where you can receive things via some sat-antenna, but to
get things to the outer world you either have to travel some months
(impractical) or accept a favor from some local criminal organisation,
that you do not want to have anything to do with but that offers you
daily to carry things to the next post office and swears it will not
want anything in return for it. (show me the court you are sure to
rule that impractical)
> If the license require sending the modifications back upstream, and sending is
> impossible for reasons including, but not limited to, residence on a deserted
> island without means of communication, the doctrine of
> impossibility/impracticability comes in to play.
So when using some bus line requires a ticket, but it is impossible to
get one (one has no money), is one allowed to use it for free?
If there was some old booth on this desert island, with some
basket of toys and a sign telling you might get one of the toys when
you phone the company and saying its advertising theme. (And some
phone on this booth, but the phone-lines from the island have rotten
away years ago), are you then allowed to take a toy for free, because
the requested task is clearly impossible?
Hochachtungsvoll,
Bernhard R. Link
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