Re: Question about license compatibility
> On Saturday 23 July 2005 04:41 pm, Francesco Poli wrote:
> > On Fri, 22 Jul 2005 00:03:56 -0700 Sean Kellogg wrote:
> > > Anyone else have thoughts?
> >
> > Yes, I have one:
> > | 3. The licensee agrees to obey all U.S. Government res- trictions
> > | governing redistribution or export of the software and
> > | documentation.
> >
> > That sounds non-free.
> > Suppose I'm *not* a U.S. citizen[1]: why should I be bound to obey U.S.
> > Government restrictions?
> >
> > [1] as I was born in Italy, *live* in Italy, and am an Italian citizen,
> > this is actually the case! ;-)
>
> This is a difficult situation that is worth commentary. Assume for a moment
> that the U.S. has some strict export restriction. As a U.S. citizen I am
> bound by those laws and cannot legally violate them. Further, if I am to
> distribute software it is entirely possible that the law prohibits me from
> distributing that software to citizens of certain nations and to ensure
those
> who receive copies do the same.
I don't think the law can really require that I "ensure" the behavior of those
I distribute copies to; after all, it's a completely impossible requirement!
I was always under the impression that I was simply not allowed to export
them *myself*, or *encourage* others to do so. If the law imposes a positive
requirement that I police the behavior of anyone I distribute the software
to, that's pretty evil. I sure hope it doesn't do that.
> This means I have have a responsibility to ensure others don't distribute
and
> cause me to break the law. The only tool by which I have to do that is the
> license.
Not that that would work. If "ensure" were really the requirement, surely a
clause in the license would be not nearly enough; you would presumably be
expected to keep track of everyone you distributed it to, monitor their
behavior, etc.
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