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Re: Final text of GPL v3



On Tue, 3 Jul 2007 22:09:44 +0100 Anthony W. Youngman wrote:

> In message <[🔎] 20070703015224.4614e0f0.frx@firenze.linux.it>, Francesco 
> Poli <frx@firenze.linux.it> writes
> >On Mon, 2 Jul 2007 23:21:30 +0100 Anthony W. Youngman wrote:
> >
> >> This date is NOT arbitrary. It is AFTER this clause was first
> >> discussed.
> >>
> >> There are two reasons for this. Firstly, many jurisdictions
> >implicitly > or explicitly forbid retro-activeness. Without this
> >date, there's a > good  chance the clause would be declared legally
> >invalid.
> >
> >I cannot understand how it could be retroactive.
> >
> >Since the GNU GPL v3 has been released on 29 June 2007, no work has
> >been licensed under its terms prior to 29 June 2007, and hence no
> >provision can be retroactive.
> >A company which entered in a discriminatory agreement prior to 28
> >March 2007, will find out that now is not allowed to distribute
> >GPLv3ed works. What's retroactive about this?
> 
> It's probably to do with the "v2 or later" stuff. I can't remember,
> but  it was discussed on Groklaw, and v3 *is* retroactive to the
> extent that  a lot of stuff is licenced "or later".

But "v2 or later" stuff is still available under the terms of v2, so you
can easily escape from undesired restrictions included in v3...
Again, I cannot see how a clause in v3 can be retroactive.  :-?

[...]
> >
> >If a company entered prior to 1989 into a weird agreement forbidding
> >the distribution of source code, would we say that GPL sections that
> >mandate availability of source are retroactive?
>
> In that case, they simply wouldn't be able to distribute GPL software,
> because they wouldn't be able to comply with the licence.

I fail to see any difference with the "28 March 2007" clause, even
without the date limit...

-- 
 http://frx.netsons.org/doc/nanodocs/testing_workstation_install.html
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..................................................... Francesco Poli .
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