Re: JMRI case -- Implementation of the Federal Circuit's Opinion

[ZnU]

In article <85r63dpho3.fsf@lola.goethe.zz>, David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> 
wrote:

> Rjack <user@example.net> writes:
> 
> > Hyman Rosen wrote:
> >>> "The answer, I suspect, is that the Free Software Foundation is not
> >>> accepting compliance with the GPL as a solution. It wants more. It
> >>> wants to push Cisco around and it wants money. Here's how it thinks
> >>> it can do that." The Software Lawyer
> >>
> >> If the only consequence of being caught out of compliance is
> >> to comply, then no one will be careful to properly comply from
> >> the start. 
> >
> > The only consequence of being caught out of compliance is to receive a
> > scathing, withering and punitive Rule 41(A) Voluntary Dismissal by the
> > FSF.  Scathing, withering and punitive because we have to listen to
> > the unverifiable bullshit propaganda about what the FSF allegedly won.
> >
> > The FSF will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER allow a lawsuit to proceed to the
> > point where a federal judge will ever actually evaluate the GPL's
> > sec. 2(b) on the merits:
> 
> To have the GPL evaluated on "its merits", the defendant has to state
> that he considers being in compliance with the GPL.  Up to now, none of
> the defendants put forward that theory.  So there is no point for the
> judge to go to the GPL in detail when the defendant does not claim use
> of the license: its acceptance is quite voluntary.  If the defendant did
> not accept it, the case is not about the GPL or its merits.

I'm not sure I understand this. If you reject the GPL, doesn't 
downloading a copy of a Linux distro (for instance) become copyright 
violation? The GPL is the only thing authorizing you to make that copy.

> > This particular contractual covenant is total legal gibberish.
> 
> Compared with the usual legal texts covering copyrightable material, it
> is very clear.  And I have yet to see the "I've read the text, but it
> was gibberish to me so I assumed I could do what I want" defense with
> respect to the GPL.
> 
> > In the Second Circuit, the district courts know full well the
> > difference between a contractual covenant, a contractual condition
> > precedent and a delimiting scope of use restriction in a copyright
> > license.
> 
> Which is the reason why there is not much of a concern if the lower
> courts would mess up a ruling.  Since they quite consistently rule in
> the manner that gets our good Alexander up in ruffles and calls of
> inebriation, we have not seen significant GPL coverage there, however.

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