Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Buying the rights to proprietary programs to free them

[Fabio Pesari]

On 02/05/2016 02:10 PM, Fabian Rodriguez wrote:
>
> product go. I lack the time to elaborate at the moment but this is 
> certainly something we already have all the pieces around for, just not 
> clearly or actively proposed to proprietary software companies that I 
> know of.

Livecode indeed makes an interesting case study, and I think that if
this doesn't happen very often it's because nobody bothers to ask.

I think we could start an initiative for it, maybe on the LibrePlanet wiki.

Is CrowdSupply ([0]) suited for this purpose? They are aligned with free
software and RMS endorsed them, but there would still be the problem of
finding the right person to handle the money (something I think should
be done by a trusted nonprofit like the FSF or SFConservancy).

And we'd still need someone to sort out the legal stuff - what if they
release the program and it's covered by third-party licenses, NDAs,
trademarks, patents and all that jazz? For this reason, there should be
someone who can verify that the code and assets are 100% free *before*
the money is handed over.

[0]: https://www.crowdsupply.com/