<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Interesting point. I do agree with you, I'm sick and tired of this fear mongering.<br><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">----- Original Message ----<br>From: Daedius <daedius@daedius.com><br>To: opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de<br>Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 6:13:17 PM<br>Subject: Re: [Opensim-dev] Violating the GPL by looking (Re: bad analogies)<br><br>
So.
Does
this
mean
if
someone
starts
pasting
GPL
code
of
OpenSim
code<br>into
our
mailing
list,
we
could
all
be
tainted!
Oh
no!
Burn
out
your<br>eyes
=o<br><br>int
main()
{<br><br>Note:
This
code
was
not
from
OpenSim.
Or
was
it?
I
don't
know.
What<br>I
do
know
is
fear
mongering
is
the
not
the
way
to
make
the
world<br>better.<br><br>-
Daedius<br><br><br>On
3/19/08,
David
Wendt
JR.
<<a ymailto="mailto:dcrkid@yahoo.com" href="mailto:dcrkid@yahoo.com">dcrkid@yahoo.com</a>>
wrote:<br>><br>>
About
my
comment
about
'inevitable
disclosure',
it
was
a
bad
attempt
to
make<br>>
an
analogy.
My
impression
was
that
there
would
be
some
sort
of
argument
that<br>>
might
hold
up
in
court
that
our
code
was
GPL
tainted
because
we
had
a
chance<br>>
to
look
at
their
code
and
copy
it,
violating
the
GPL's
requirements
that
all<br>>
code
it
covers
must
stay
GPL.
However,
after
reading
comments
on
the
mailing<br>>
list
and
some
self-reflection
I've
realized
something
interesting...
you<br>>
can't
copy
code
from
the
Linden
viewer
into
the
server
anyway!
The
Linden<br>>
viewer
is
C++
and
the
OpenSIM
codebase
is
C#.
Not
to
mention,
the
only
thing<br>>
that
would
be
of
interest
to
our
project
in
the
Linden
viewer
would
be<br>>
network
packet
handlers.
Plus,
copyright
covers
implementations,
not
ideas.<br>>
Dan
Miller's
final
comment,
however,
is
very
true:
There's
no
way
to
prove<br>>
that
we
didn't
look
at
the
code,
especially
since
the
code
download
can
be<br>>
anonymous,
routed
through
tor
straight
to
a
hidden
truecrypt
volume.<br>><br>>
As
for
the
whole
"linden
might
have
a
patent"
thing,
that
has
nothing
to
do<br>>
with
any
allegations
of
GPL
taint.
If
Linden
has
a
patent
they
can
use<br>>
against
us,
it
harms
us
irregardless
of
GPL
taint.
The
viewer
is
licensed<br>>
GPLv2
anyway,
which
doesn't
have
any
patent-grant
language.
I
wouldn't<br>>
expect
Linden
to
actually
sue
over
such
patents,
given
that
they
are
aiming<br>>
for
a
completely
open
grid.
Nevertheless
we
should
be
wary
of
any
such<br>>
patents
and
avoid
them
if
at
all
possible.<br>><br>>
-----
Original
Message
----<br>>
From:
dan
miller
<<a ymailto="mailto:danbmil99@yahoo.com" href="mailto:danbmil99@yahoo.com">danbmil99@yahoo.com</a>><br>>
To:
<a ymailto="mailto:opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de" href="mailto:opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de">opensim-dev@lists.berlios.de</a><br>>
Sent:
Wednesday,
March
19,
2008
3:18:27
PM<br>>
Subject:
Re:
[Opensim-dev]
Violating
the
GPL
by
looking
(Re:
Voice
Module)<br>><br>><br>>
---
dan
miller
<<a ymailto="mailto:danbmil99@yahoo.com" href="mailto:danbmil99@yahoo.com">danbmil99@yahoo.com</a>>
wrote:<br>><br>>
>
>
What
it
boils
down
to,
though?
This
discussion
is
simply
more
fear,<br>>
>
>
uncertainty,
and
doubt
thrown
at
the
viability
of
the
GPL
for
anything<br>>
>
>
at
all.<br>>
><br>>
>
Absolutely.
It's
FUD,
and
FUD
is
causing
self-censorship
--
that's
why<br>>
>
this<br>>
>
sticks
in
my
craw.<br>>
><br>>
>
>
The
only
possible
monkeywrench
is
patent
infringement,
but
I
don't<br>>
>
>
know
if
any
patent
filing
has
actually
occurred
on
anything
that<br>>
>
>
Linden's
employees
may
have
invented.
(I
can't
find
any,
but
that<br>>
>
>
doesn't
mean
anything.)<br>>
><br>>
>
That's
exactly
why
a
big-company
attorney
would
give
this
sort
of
advice.<br>>
>
We
can't
know
if
there
are
any
Linden
patent
filings
out
there,
or
what<br>>
>
Linden's
stance
might
be.
Therefore,
the
big
companies
who
are
interested<br>>
>
in
opensim
(I
have
no
doubt
that
an
opinion
from
one
of
their
overpaid<br>>
>
hacks<br>>
>
is
the
genesis
of
this
'rule')
are
taking
an
absurdly
cautionary
stance
by<br>>
>
insisting
that
no
opensim
programmers
can
ever
be
exposed
to
the
SL
viewer<br>>
>
source.<br>>
><br>>
>
What
is
patently
ridiculous
(ha!)
about
all
this
is,
the
problem
could<br>>
>
still<br>>
>
exist
if
Linden
released
their
viewer
under
a
BSD
license.
They
could<br>>
>
still<br>>
>
have
a
patent;
they
could
still
claim
'residual
information'
or<br>>
>
'inevitable<br>>
>
disclosure'
with
respect
to
programmers
who
confess
to
having
read
said<br>>
>
code.
The
reason
GPL
rears
its
ugly
head
is
that
it
explicitly
states<br>>
>
that
you
can't
let
your
patents
restrict
other's
GPL
rights.
Note
however<br>>
>
that
letting
some
of
these
patent
rights
slip
into
a
BSD
project
*does<br>>
>
not*<br>>
>
restrict
anyone's
right
to
use
the
GPL
code,
nor
does
it
go
afowl
of
GPL<br>>
>
because
there
is
no
code
copying!
(I
shoulda
been
a
lawyer..)<br>>
><br>>
>
What
makes
it
triply
ridiculous
is
that
a
lawsuit
could
easily
transpire<br>>
>
anyway,
with
a
claim
that
some
programmer
is
lying
about
having
read
the<br>>
>
code.
Inevitable
Disclosure
involves
trade
secrets
and
confidentiality<br>>
>
agreements,
where
it
is
clear
who
had
access
and
who
didn't.
Having<br>>
>
programmers
(whose
r/l
identities
we
often
don't
even
know)
pledge
on
IRC<br>>
>
or<br>>
>
email
that
they
never
looked
at
code
that
is
right
out
there
for
anyone
to<br>>
>
anonymously
download,
is
very
unlikely
to
hold
up
in
a
court
case.<br>>
><br>>
>
So
the
whole
thing
remains...
just
silly,
IMSHO.<br>>
><br>>
><br>><br>>
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