Re: Economics and the GPL

--- "Deven T. Corzine" <[email protected]> wrote:
> But they can't stop you from 
> using their GPL verbatim, whatever the terms, and then blatently violating 
> those terms.  After all, as the copyright holder, you're the one with the 
> standing to enforce those terms, not the FSF, and you're not likely to sue 
> yourself for compliance, are you?

But the FSF is the copyright holder on the GPL.  Any unauthorized copying of
the GPL, modified or not, would be a violation of the FSF's copyright.
 
> Perhaps there's some 
> way to allow very limited amounts under "fair use", but that would take 
> some effort to figure out just how much is fair and how to keep it from 
> getting out of control.  

How about limiting the number of copies an individual may distribute without
authorization (1 per week, 1 per month)?

> It's also unlikely for copyright law to be modified to demand source like 
> he wants, so I don't see that happening either.

I'm not so sure.  Patent laws require filing full details of how a patented
device works.  I could see making it mandatory to file source code in order to
receive copyright protection.
 
> However, [reducing copyright length] is an uphill battle against 
> powerful entrenched interests, so it's hard to win this one.  

Which is probably the FSF's justification for such a hard-line,
take-no-prisioners approach.

> Is [switching from BSD to GPL] a trend?  Maybe due to the influence of GPL 
> advocates, in part?

I'm not sure how stong a trend it is.  But I do think it is strongly due to the
influence of GPL advocates.


=====
Sincerely,
Matt Seitz

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