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Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?


From: David Kastrup
Subject: Re: When is a GPL program which runs in a web site 'conveyed'?
Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:10:25 +0200
User-agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.0.60 (gnu/linux)

rjack <robjack@insightbb.com> writes:

> John Hasler wrote:
>> rjack wrote:
>>> Do you *really* believe that the GPL can bind all those "downstream"
>>> third-party beneficiaries?
>>
>> Hyman writes:
>>> Of course.
>>
>> It doesn't bind them.  It grants permission to them.
>
> That's great news! The GPL doesn't bind all those third party
> "downstream" recipients to the terms of the GPL!
>
> Uhhh... Are you sure Richard Stallman approves of what you're
> claiming?

The GPL explicitly says:

      9. Acceptance Not Required for Having Copies.

      You are not required to accept this License in order to receive or
    run a copy of the Program.  Ancillary propagation of a covered work
    occurring solely as a consequence of using peer-to-peer transmission
    to receive a copy likewise does not require acceptance.  However,
    nothing other than this License grants you permission to propagate
    or modify any covered work.  These actions infringe copyright if you
    do not accept this License.  Therefore, by modifying or propagating
    a covered work, you indicate your acceptance of this License to do
    so.

So no, the GPL does not bind any party to the terms of the GPL.  But
copyright law prohibits a lot of actions by default, and the GPL spells
out conditions under which you are exempted from some of the
consequences of copyright law.  If you don't meet the conditions, you
get no exception.  It is your pick.  The GPL does not have any power to
bind, only to release.  In a jurisdiction without copyright law but with
contract law, the GPL is a meaningless piece of paper.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum


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