[Discuss] microsoft rejects GPLv3 applications

[Alan W. Irwin]

On 2007-07-10 13:12-0700 R. Langkamer wrote:

> 	I just read about this. Not surprising really since they want to push 
> their agenda and not submit to anyone else's. Though they call it making 
> money for the shareholders.
>
> http://vip.itworldcanada.com/t?r=2&c=4306&l=3560&ctl=1C720:BA0249367E622E63399F518B1DF64256&p=EB&sub=481329
>
> 	Talk about a can of worms.

>From the article:

"Microsoft is not a party to the GPLv3 license and none of its actions are
to be misinterpreted as accepting status as a contracting party of GPLv3 or
assuming any legal obligations under such license," said Horacio Gutierrez..."

You notice how MS keeps emphasizing contract (a legal agreement between two
or more parties) and the fuzzy concept of intellectual property rather than
copyright?  With copyright there is no contract, and it is actually simpler
than a contract since all the power is (rightly) with the copyright holder;
if you choose to distribute somebody elses copyrighted work, either you are
in violation of the particular copyright license for that work or you are
not.

See "Microsoft Tries to Spit Out the GPLv3 Hook"
(http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2155245,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K0000616)
for more on this issue.

Alan
__________________________
Alan W. Irwin

Astronomical research affiliation with Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Victoria (astrowww.phys.uvic.ca).

Programming affiliations with the FreeEOS equation-of-state implementation
for stellar interiors (freeeos.sf.net); PLplot scientific plotting software
package (plplot.org); the libLASi project (unifont.org/lasi); the Loads of
Linux Links project (loll.sf.net); and the Linux Brochure Project
(lbproject.sf.net).
__________________________

Linux-powered Science
__________________________