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Paul Weaver wrote: > Indeed, the question is if I don't accept the GPL, am I allowed to run > the code? Nothing else gives me permission to copy the program (even > into memory) You don't have to accept the GPL until you distribute. Whether you accept it or not, the GPL is in force because you downloaded software covered by the GPL. The GPL gives you the right to make whatever copies you need whether you accept it or not. i.e. Independent of your views of the GPL, nobody can protest at your use of GPL code *until* you distribute a modified version. You can distribute an unmodified version because that will automatically comply with the GPL (it is unchanged). >> Few people on this list need to actually agree to the GPL. Kai and I > > Creating "hello world", and linking it to libc, would require you agree > to the LGPL though. No, only to distribute the binary with source code. > Well, I could say I'm distributing without a license No, because if the downloaded software was covered by the GPL, it is STILL covered by the GPL when you distribute it, whether or not you accept the licence because anyone who downloads the software from you has all the rights under the GPL that you or I would have. That's the "third-party" part of the licence. Read the GPL FAQ. > , in which case > copyright law would apply instead of the GPL (and if I distribute it > without agreeuing to the license terms, thats exactly what I'm doing) No because the licence is in effect whether or not you accept it. > However nothing else gives me permission to copy the program, including > into memory. The GPL gives you that permission, whether you want it or not. You cannot refuse to accept something that GRANTS you a right. Under UK/USA law, you can only refuse something that DENIES you a right. If the copyright holder specifically and explicitly grants certain rights under the GPL, ALL of those rights are granted to ANYONE who receives the work within the other conditions laid down by the copyright holder. You can, of course, refuse to take up that right but that is NOT the same as refusing the right itself. You have the right to vote. You cannot deny that you have that right (that would be perjury), you cannot surrender it, transfer it or refuse to accept it. All you can do is refuse to *utilise* that right. You can have the right taken away from you, also without any requirement for you to have accepted the right or accepted the loss of the right. If you later on decide to vote, nobody can prosecute you because you "failed to accept the right to vote when it was offered to you". >> Anyone appointed by the company to install the >> copyrighted work is empowered by that company to act on behalf of the >> company, including in executing legally binding agreements that are a >> necessary and expected part of that work. > > I haven't been specifically told that I can accept a given contract, and > I always play safe when it comes to legal agreements. You don't have to. It's part of employment law. It is part, therefore, of any contract of (or for) employment. Any contract that prevented you from doing this would break UK law and would therefore be null and void. During the time that I work as a self-employed contractor for any client, I am also implicitly empowered to act on behalf of that company within certain areas that relate to my specific skills. > Presumably they argued that it damaged the companies image as people he > sold to knew he worked for that company Yes, and that he used his privileged position within the company to advance his own financial rewards - because some of the people who bought his illicit goods were customers of the company whom he would not have met outside his employment. > I have to read it and understand it. As it's a legal document it's > probably useful to get a lawyer involved to explain the legal stuff. Then read the GPL FAQ. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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