Re: The GPL and Patents: ROFL

[RJack]

On 8/19/2010 5:18 PM, Hyman Rosen wrote:
> The GPL is a copyright license, granting additional rights

Are those additional rights that the GPL grants "In Personam" (contract
rights) or "In Rem" (property rights)? I thought Article I, Section 8,
Clause 8 of the United States Constitution gave Congress the power to
grant new copyrights.

> to a work beyond those permitted by copyright law. When someone
> distributes their work under the GPL, they agree to waive

Richard Stallman and Eben Moglen claim that you don't "agree" to
the GPL since it is not a contact, so how can licensees agree to waive
rights?

> their right to enforce their patents embodied in that work against
> others who use, copy, and distribute that work. I don't know what you
> mean by the GPL "affecting ideas".

affect
af·fect
1. to act on; produce an effect or change in: Cold weather affected the
crops.

Sincerely,
RJack :)