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Chris.Bitmead@misys.com.au writes: > >> Can someone explain the policy here. Is the problem that this was not > GPL, > >> or is the problem that the copyright > >> owner did not assign ownership to the FSF? > >> > >> If the latter, why is that a problem? As long as everything is GPL, I > can't > see why >>it matters who owns it. > > > > > >Mostly legal butt covering ;) In probably 99% of the cases, it isn't > strictly necessary, >but if you think about it a bit, you can probably > imagine a whole bunch of problems, >lawsuits, etc (better to be too > >paranoid, than too sued >:). It also makes sure that you actually can > >gpl the code (mostly important if you work as a programmer). > > That's one side of the coin, but the other side of the coin is illustrated > by something Linus Torvalds said. He said he is glad he doesn't own the > copyright to the whole of > Linux because it binds his own hands. If one day he loses his mind and > decides to make > Linux commercial with a restrictive copyright, he can't, because he'd have > to get > permission of hundreds of authors. > > Also, when the copyright is owned all over the internet, it gives lawyers a > very > difficult target to aim their suit at. > There are certainly benefits and drawbacks to both, and I personally prefer the linux approach (less hassle, a bit more assurance that things will always be free, and I'd think that the necessity of assigning copyright discourages some people from contributing), but the fact that the FSF is an actual organization would likely make them a target in any case (IANAL, but it makes sense to me that it would be their responsibility to track down the owners to the code they distribute). If this isn't correct, I'm sure that the lawyers would be more than happy making tons of money just tracking everybody down. The only way to deal with that is to cement the rocks they crawl out from under. Anyhow, the syntax-case package is back, so it's sort of a moot point :) -- Greg