From owner-freebsd-chat Wed Feb 27 16:57:15 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from harrier.prod.itd.earthlink.net (harrier.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.12]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4721D37B405 for ; Wed, 27 Feb 2002 16:57:12 -0800 (PST) Received: from pool0187.cvx21-bradley.dialup.earthlink.net ([209.179.192.187] helo=mindspring.com) by harrier.prod.itd.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 16gEse-0000Xz-00; Wed, 27 Feb 2002 16:57:09 -0800 Message-ID: <3C7D8014.A5502797@mindspring.com> Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 16:55:48 -0800 From: Terry Lambert X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en]C-CCK-MCD {Sony} (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Rich Morin Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: First test of GPL in court References: <20020227122820.A64839@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20020227142005.A16555@energyhq.homeip.net> <20020227132417.B64839@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <20020227052928.L12253@rain.macguire.net> <3C7D1454.6957B09E@mindspring.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Rich Morin wrote: > At 9:16 AM -0800 2/27/02, Terry Lambert wrote: > >Benjamin Krueger wrote: > >> I wish I could just forfeit any contracts I didn't want to deal with > >> anymore... I might be richer for it. ;) > > > >A contract is only valid if there is consideration exchanged. > > Beeeeeeeeeeep! The GPL does not rest on contract law. Rather, it > is based on Copyright and the unilateral ability of the copyright > holder to control what is done with the copyrighted material. The requirement that I distribute my sources as a result of linking with GPL'ed code is a consequence of the license, and the license _is_ a contract. The UCSD P-code system was licensed under a Berkeley style license, and rights to use it were revoked from all but Apple Computer, Inc., who had negotiated a non-revokable license, in return for consideration. Similarly, the revocation of the Net/2 code release by UCB following the settlement agreement with USL as a result of the USL vs. UCB lawsuit was only possible because the licensees had not provided consideration in return for their license. Please consult "Black's Law" for more information on Torte law in the U.S.. -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message