[Opensim-dev] Leaving Project

[Frisby, Adam]

The problem is recreation & reinterpretation may not be copyright-transfer free. 

Looking at the code, then reimplementing the mechanism may trans-include the copyright on the original into the new implementation. 

We've had umpteen different lawyers look into this problem for us and they all pretty much say the same thing. "Ask Linden Lab for an indemnification against this or don't look at the viewer code for 3-6 months when moving projects." - we did the first, they said no, so we're doing the second. 

Unless you can get a qualified lawyer to say otherwise, that's the way the policy is going to stay.

Regards,

Adam

> -----Original Message-----
> From: opensim-dev-bounces at lists.berlios.de [mailto:opensim-dev-
> bounces at lists.berlios.de] On Behalf Of Kyle Hamilton
> Sent: Monday, 23 November 2009 3:46 PM
> To: opensim-dev at lists.berlios.de
> Subject: Re: [Opensim-dev] Leaving Project
> 
> I've already explained the futility of the concept of "trade secret"
> protection when LL already released the viewer code, and the
> specifications for connecting to a server -- they told the secret,
> themselves, and to be a trade secret first something must be secret.
> The only thing they can claim is copyright protection, and since
> there's no means of automatedly transforming C++ code into C# code
> there's no transformation without reinterpretation and recreation,
> thus preventing any copyright claim from succeeding.  (I am not a
> lawyer, but I've read Eben Moglen's essays.  You know, the general
> counsel for the FSF?)
> 
> -Kyle H
> 
> On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Fly Man <fly.man.opensim at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Adam,
> >
> > You hit the nail right on his head with this passage:
> >
> > The big problem here is there’s a very real lack of viewer developers
> in
> > this community – there is some overlap between server & network
> engineers
> > (like the OS community) and 3D Viewer Developers here, but not much.
> If we
> > do have 3D devs in the community who haven’t done anything and feel
> like
> > contributing – you really should be talking to some of the ‘next gen
> viewer’
> >  projects and seeing if we can get something awesome done faster.
> >
> > And maybe someone should explain WHY people won't burn their hands on
> the
> > viewer
> >
> > Main reason: There's a clausule on the Website and internally about
> "Look at
> > viewer code, and there's 6 months no working on OpenSim"
> >
> > So any person that would like to keep working on OpenSim doesn't look
> at
> > viewer code, and vice versa.
> >
> > That's about the main reason that some viewer developers won't co-
> operate
> > with OpenSim and the other way, developers from OpenSim can't help
> viewer
> > developers
> >
> > But that's just my 2 cents about that passage.
> >
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> >
> >
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