Re: web hosting providers' modified .debs

[Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de>]

* Arnoud Engelfriet:

> Florian Weimer wrote:
>> |   You may make, run and propagate covered works that you do not
>> | convey, without conditions so long as your license otherwise remains
>> | in force.  You may convey covered works to others for the sole purpose
>> | of having them make modifications exclusively for you, or provide you
>> | with facilities for running those works, provided that you comply with
>> | the terms of this License in conveying all material for which you do
>> | not control copyright.  Those thus making or running the covered works
>> | for you must do so exclusively on your behalf, under your direction
>> | and control, on terms that prohibit them from making any copies of
>> | your copyrighted material outside their relationship with you.
>> 
>> This was put into the license at the very last moment.  Maybe it does
>> not apply to the Dreamhost case, but I think it does apply to appliances
>> like the Tivo, and especially to customer premises equipment given to
>
> To me the clause reads like a work-for-hire or have-made clause. 

I think you missed the "or provide you with facilities for running
those works".  It's not just about programmers.

>> you by our ISP (which are a common source of alleged GPLv2 violations).
>> Tivo (or the ISP) only needs to make sure that there's a contract that
>> stipulates that you provide electrical power and connectivity to the
>> device, so you perform a service for them, and voil?, they don't need to
>> provide source code anymore.
>
> In a Tivo or ISP situation the ISP does not have its customers
> "make modifications exclusively for" the ISP. I really don't see
> how this clause would apply to an ISP or to Tivo.

See above, you provide electricity and rack space to the ISP router,
which is "prov[ing] [the ISP] with facilities for running those works"
(i.e., the operating system on the router).