Re: Results for Debian's Position on the GFDL

[Michael Poole <mdpoole@troilus.org>]

Adam McKenna writes:

> On Mon, Mar 20, 2006 at 06:35:27PM -0500, Michael Poole wrote:
> > If the license said "make and distribute", then that would exclude the
> > technical measures restriction for personal copies -- it would not in
> > itself let you make personal copies without obeying the license.
> 
> Right, unless the copy was a fair use.

Thus the "in itself" qualifier.

> > > If he puts the files on a multiuser system, but controls access to them with
> > > file permissions, he still has not distributed the files.  If he makes them
> > > world readable, then he has made them available for distribution.
> > 
> > The FDL says nothing about the technical measures restriction only
> > applying to copies that are distributed or made "available for
> > distribution".
> 
> I agree.  What I am saying is that, in order to violate the license,
> technical measures applied to documents that have not been distributed need
> to prevent the user of the documents from reading or making further copies.
> 
> File permissions do not do that. (Unless the user purposely sets permissions
> so that he himself may not read the files.  I guess in that case, he could
> sue himself for access.  Or maybe the FSF could sue him in order to force him
> to restore access to himself.)

The license says "You may not use technical measures to obstruct or
control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or
distribute."  It does not say "... control the reading or further
copying of the copies you make or distribute by someone who possess a
copy" or "... control the reading or further copying of the copies you
make or distribute by someone who can read the copy" or anything of
the sort.

In the absence of any such limitation, I (and I believe most judges in
common law countries) read the command as not being limited.  I agree
that there *should* be some limitation, but do not see why the
limitation you describe can be inferred under the rules of contract or
license construction.

Michael Poole