Re: LYNX-DEV BeOS port

[David Woolley]

> product - it's for the growth of the platform. If we found someone abroad
> to host the source and/or binaries would that free us from ethical and
> legal conundrums (sp?)?

I think you really need to consult a lawyer.  However, my interpretation is
that the Lynx licence will never allow SSL support in the USA until the
RSA patent expires - however you might be able to convince the copyright
owners to give you a different licence, but they may be worried about the
second point.  (I think that SSL versions can only be used if the SSL
code is merged by the end user and the result is not re-distributed.)

If you send the code in machine readable form to an external distribution
point, you will almost certainly be breaking US law.  I think there have
been a lot of discussions about workarounds, but they are almost certainly
in a grey area of law, awaiting someone to bring a case to court.

Note that whether or not you make money is to some extent irrelevant, as
the commercial use issue, in this case, relates to the end user.  Making money
might make the use of RSAREF be considered commercial use, even though the
end users are not using it commercially.


For reference, this is the problem part of the GPL:

  7. If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent
infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues),
conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
excuse you from the conditions of this License.  If you cannot
distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this
License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you
may not distribute the Program at all.  For example, if a patent
license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by
all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then
the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to
refrain entirely from distribution of the Program.

If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under
any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to
apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other
circumstances.

It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any
patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any
such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the
integrity of the free software distribution system, which is
implemented by public license practices.  Many people have made
generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed
through that system in reliance on consistent application of that
system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing
to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot
impose that choice.

This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to
be a consequence of the rest of this License.

  8. If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in
certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the
original copyright holder who places the Program under this License
may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding
those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among
countries not thus excluded.  In such case, this License incorporates
the limitation as if written in the body of this License.
 


The full text is included in many packages (it should be included in
Lynx but appears to be missing).  The authorative version should be
obtainable from:  the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave,
Cambridge, MA 02139, USA


As I see it, the GPL would allow you to redistribute the program with
a restriction that it must not be used in the USA!  The US government 
would not then allow you to distribute it anywhere else!
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