Re: Merry Xmas and a... OMG, what did you just say?

[Robert J. Chassell]

   ... In Iceland, I don't think any company or organization can
   suppress a contribution and I have the court rulings to back it up.

That is excellent.  I know nothing about Iceland.

However, I have talked to people in Malaysia, Brazil, and other places
besides the US.  In those countries, a claim of plagerism is legally
possible.  It has become necessary for a developer to be able to prove
to a court that he or she has not stolen a contribution.  (This is not
about suppressing a contribution you made; it is about someone else's
rights to a contribution that perhaps he or she made.)

In addition, corporations operate in Europe and the US, not just in
Iceland.  The world in which people may use software is not limited to
Iceland.  It has become necessary to think about safety in places like
Malaysia and Brazil, as well as Poland, France, and Canada.

   What software patents?  There is no such thing in europe (yet) ....

Right.  `Yet' is the operative word.  I hope Europe never adopts
software patents.  As far as I can see, it is better to prevent them
than to try to fight them after they have become law and gained more
supporters.

-- 
    Robert J. Chassell                         
    address@hidden                         GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
    http://www.rattlesnake.com                  http://www.teak.cc