Re: Is AGPLv3 DFSG-free?
Miriam Ruiz wrote:
> 2008/9/2 Arnoud Engelfriet <arnoud@engelfriet.net>:
> > What about it? A finding by a court that a GPL clause is severable
> > or that I am excused from complying with it is not a "condition" in
> > the sense of article 12.
>
> OK, I trust you in this, but shouldn't we wait for a court to decide
> that before "ignoring" ourselves that clause on our own? I'm not sure
Well, that's the problem of course. Only a court can rule that a
clause is illegal and therefore can be ignored.
> if I'm understanding you correctly here, but you mean that if someone
> is exchanging data with your program through a computer network, and
> it might be illegal to distribute the code to that person, you could
> safely ignore it, not send them the source code as clause 13 says, and
> you'll still have a license to use the program, taking into account
> only the other terms?
In such a case, you could refuse to distribute the source. The person
would then inform the copyright holder, who would take you to court
for license violation. As a defense you would argue that the clause
is against the law and therefore must be declared null and void, or
at least inapplicable to you. If the court agrees with you, the result
is that you did not violate the license.
Arnoud
--
IT lawyer, blogger and patent attorney ~ Partner at ICTRecht.nl legal services
http://www.arnoud.engelfriet.net/ ~ http://www.iusmentis.com/
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