kita sering terkadang masih bingung apa sih sebetulnya aturan main,
hukum, peraturan dari OSS seperti GPLv3 dan gimana dengan software
proprietary seperti EULA dll...
dibawah ini mungkin ada informasi menarik dari CNET... for your info
bagi yang tertarik mengembangkan, mensosialisasikan software OSS...
agar tahu... mohon teman teman dimilis APWKomitel...yang ingin
partisipasi memperkenalkan kursusnya utk warnet, solusi OSSnya utk
warnet ... silahkan manfaatkan stand APWKomitel...
we are open for collaborations and suggestions... regards, rr
---
Attorney: GPLv3 may not bind Microsoft
By Brett Winterford
http://news.com.com/Attorney+GPLv3+may+not+bind+Microsoft/2100-7344_3-6198723.html
Story last modified Wed Jul 25 09:23:33 PDT 2007
Microsoft should be able to extricate itself from the implications of
the General Public License version 3, according to a leading
Australian intellectual property lawyer.
Kay Lam-Beattie, a principal with intellectual property lawyers
Idealaw, said that based on the limited information available to the
public, the open-source movement's efforts to hinder Microsoft's
bullying over patents are likely to be fruitless.
In recent times, Microsoft has struck legal agreements with Linux
distributors Novell, Xandros and Linspire, pledging not to sue users
of these distributions over alleged patent violations.
These partnerships, in some cases, restrict the freedoms normally
associated with the use and distribution of open-source software.
To combat this strategy, the Free Software Foundation (FSF), author of
the General Public License, or GPL (the open-source license under
which most future open-source applications are expected to be
distributed), has included new provisions in the third version that
are designed to turn such patent-protection deals to the advantage of
the open-source community.
Under GPLv3, "if you arrange to provide patent protection to some of
the people who get the software from you, that protection is
automatically extended to everyone who receives the software," said
the FSF's Brett Smith earlier this month.
"This means that the patent protection Microsoft has extended to
Novell's customers would be extended to everyone who uses any software
Novell distributes under GPLv3," he said.
While not all the details of the Microsoft-Novell deal are publicly
available for analysis (parts of the deal filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission have words deleted and large chunks of text
cut out), Lam-Beattie is dubious about whether the FSF's strategy will
work.
"This (initiative) is squarely aimed at Microsoft," Lam-Beattie said.
"The question is, do Microsoft's actions regarding the (support
certificates) fall within the definitions in the GPLv3 of what makes
them a party to GPLv3?"
Microsoft: We're not party to GPLv3
Microsoft recently issued a statement claiming it is "not a party to
the GPLv3" and that "none of its actions are to be misinterpreted as
accepting status as a contracting party of GPLv3 or assuming any legal
obligations under such license."
"The GPLv3 is trying to bind Microsoft accidentally," Lam-Beattie
said. "Microsoft is saying: I have no intention of being bound by
these rules."
"Unless there is something more specific in the certificate or the
collaboration agreement between Novell and Microsoft, I would be very
surprised to see this upheld," she said. "It was a nice try on the
part of GNU (the software system developed by FSF), but at this stage,
I'd say it's not going to be an effective strategy. It will be tough
to hold up in court."
The strategy, Lam-Beattie said, will ultimately fail because parties
have to willingly enter contracts, and contracts can't be retrospective.
"An easy analogy is a car park with a sign that says you are bound to
a given contract if you enter into that car park," she says. "Anybody
can enter, but you have to accept the terms, and the signal of you
accepting those terms is when you enter. You have to do something
positive to accept the terms--you have to act."
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In this case, she said, Microsoft never acted--never "entered" into
the agreement--and the agreement's terms and conditions can apply only
to new actions by Microsoft, not older ones. "Their actions so far are
not enough to say that they are bound," she said.
Joseph Sweeney, adviser for analyst group Integrated Research Business
Systems, came to a similar conclusion earlier this month.
Lam-Beattie also said she "can't see who would try" taking Microsoft
to court to prove its actions did fall within the bounds of GPLv3.
"It really would require Microsoft trying to prosecute somebody in the
open-source community on the basis of patent infringement, and that
defendant using the GPLv3 to defend itself," she said.
That's a scenario unlikely to be played out, as the last thing
Microsoft would want to do is have its patents challenged in court,
said Lam-Beattie.
Patent litigation, she noted, is expensive and "fraught with danger."
"If you ever have to defend your patent in court, you have to prove
that there wasn't any prior art. The other party is likely to cite
similar ideas to your patent to disprove it. It's possible some could
be struck down.
"These patents are worth more to Microsoft challenged than
unchallenged," she added.
Brett Winterford of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.
Copyright ©1995-2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
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