Re: Open Software License v2.1
Scripsit Brian Thomas Sniffen <bts@alum.mit.edu>
> It think it's free to terminate a public license completely and
> universally as soon as anybody brings and wins any suit against any
> party that claims that the work using some patented technology.
Still fails the Tentacles of Evil test, this time very spectacularly.
Imagine that, say, Emacs was under such a license. Microsoft Denmark
Aps then starts selling media with the source code for Emacs on
them. Microsoft Germany GmbH files suit against MS Denmark, alleging
that Emacs uses Microsoft's patented two's-complement technology for
representing negative numbers, and demanding royalties payments. The
defendant agrees that the technology is, in fact, used, but refuses to
pay royalty on grounds that half of the profits is being donated to a
charity. The judge, correctly, dismisses this defense as rubbish and
has to rule in favor of the plaintiff.
Poof. Suddenly everybody, has lost their license for Emacs, completely
and universally.
(This will have the most practical importance if Microsoft has
previously acquired the FSF, or RMS has gone mad and started working
for Redmond. But that's exactly the kind of things a license has to
survive in order to be free).
--
Henning Makholm (Og det er vasketøjet tit.)
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