Re: lynx-dev Re: [CHRPM] lynx-2.8.5-0.11mdk.dev.8

[Doug Kaufman]

On Mon, 18 Nov 2002, David Woolley wrote:

(quoting me)
> > for all platforms. This probably isn't possible with lynx, since
> > the copyright isn't held by any one entity. Similarly, there is
> > no one other than a copyright owner who can enforce the GPL. See
> > "http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-violation.html";
>
> I think that the FSF would take a dim view of this, as the whole basis
> of enforcement of the GPL is to make people fear legal action if they
> breach the rules; they wouldn't want precedents for "I thought he wouldn't
> object" arguments.

That is why I referenced the above URL. The FSF says specifically that
they will not try to enforce the GPL unless they are the copyright
owner. In the case of lynx, just as there is no one able to grant
exceptions to the GPL, I am not sure who would have standing to
enforce it. In a situation like this, I was suggesting a "reasonable
man" rule. If a reasonable person would conclude that the copyright
holders (if they could be identified) would be likely to grant an
exception, then it would be acceptable to act as if that exception had
been granted. When you consider that wget, whose copyright is held
by the FSF recently granted such an exception, I believe that it is
likely that one would be granted for lynx.

If there is no one ready and able to enforce the GPL for lynx, then
it is a matter for conscience and ethics rather than law. With the
number of https sites increasing, lynx becomes less useful as a brower
without SSL, and could become obsolete. Of course this applies only to
binaries for distribution. Anyone in a country which allows encryption
can compile their own binary with SSL without worrying about the
status of the openssl license. The problem exists primarily for
platforms where most binaries are not compiled on the machine on which
they run.
                              Doug
__
Doug Kaufman
Internet: address@hidden


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