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Re: RES: What makes software copyrightable anyway?



On Fri, May 13, 2005 at 03:49:28PM -0400, Raul Miller wrote:
> Actually, I have made that claim.  I've even shown the commands 
> to issue to obtain evidence that we do so.
> 
> Mind you, this is a collective work, and we will also distribute the
> pieces individually.  But "we sometimes don't distribute the work"
> is not equivalent to "we do not distribute the work".

The work you are speaking of does not exist in our archives, as far as I can
tell.  It can only be built on a user's machine.  The resulting work would
not be distributable.

> > > If not, what are we discussing?
> > 
> > I thought we were discussing whether we can be held liable for the illegal
> > actions of our users.
> 
> I believe the answer to that question depends on whether we can be
> shown to have some responsibility for those actions of our users.

You seem to be saying that if we make it easy for a user to do something
which is completely legal (i.e. compile a package with SSL support) then we 
can somehow be held responsible for any and all subsequent illegal actions 
that the user takes with respect to the package (such as distribution).

> > > As I understand it, action at distance is not sufficient
> > > to absolve us of responsibility.
> > 
> > IMO, you understand it wrongly.  But we can agree to disagree.
> 
> In what way is my understanding wrong?
> 
> If I fire a gun, am I absolved of responsibiility for damage done by
> that bullet?
> 
> If I hire an assassin, am I absolved of responsibility for choices
> made by this hit man?

You're making completely ridiculous analogies.  If you want to be taken
seriously, you should try to stay on point.

--Adam



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