Re: DRAFT: debian-legal summary of the QPL
On Mon, 2004-07-19 at 12:00, Brian Thomas Sniffen wrote:
> luther@debian.org writes:
>
> >>>> I wouldn't consider a license free if it said, for example, "if you modify
> >>>>this program you must add your name to this wiki page as soon as possible".
> >>>>It wouldn't fail the desert island test ("as soon as possible" might easily
> >>>>mean "never") but it would fail the dissident test.
> >>>
> >>> But the QPL also fails the dissident test, and has a much less onerous
> >>> requirement than the "Add your name to a wiki" license.
> >>
> >>It's a much more onerous requirement: it has the same effect, that you
> >>must contact the original author, who then gets to do what he wants
> >
> > Hey, no, you are wrong on this. The original author has to contact you first,
> > with the request. And i don't buy the idea of a generic call for patches,
> > since nobody can prove that you indeed received that request (think about a TV
> > less dissident, or a guy on a desert island :). And anyway, first upstream
> > need to learn of the patch, which he wouldn't do if the dissident didn't
> > broadly distribute its changes.
>
> He doesn't need to learn of the patch first in the case of the generic
> call. Additionally, the idea is not to help users get away with as
> much as possible. It is desirable that users be able to do the right
> thing, abide by the wishes of authors completely, and still have
> freedom with respect to the software.
>
> So we can't just suggest that users pretend they never heard the
> generic call for patches, or the invocation of a termination clause.
Hear, hear! I've heard this crap about it being okay to violate the
written terms of the license because of some exceptional circumstance
here or there or because a lawsuit against the violation would fail on a
legal technicality or "nobody will ever find out". I don't care if you
think they're "little white lies" or "nobody will ever find out" --
descending to that type of argument surrenders the moral high ground in
a spectacular fashion, and provides a mile-wide painted target for the
opponents of Freedom. DON'T GO THERE!
--
Stephen Ryan
Digital Rights Management is bad for all of us:
http://www.bricklin.com/robfuture.htm
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