At 03:56 PM 2/12/2002, Steve Langasek wrote:
Eben Moglen has expounded on this point quite persuasively in the past. Whatever flaws the xGPL licenses might have, I assure you that unenforcability is not among them.
Actually, they may well be unenforceable. The only way in which they have ever been "enforced" is via threats of lawsuits; no court has ever ruled on the issue.
And there are some very good arguments for the proposition that the FSF licenses are unenforceable. Among other things, there are arguments that the recitals are deceptive; that the licenses are contracts to make contracts; that consideration is not reasonable and/or cannot be determined; and that certain portions are vague or ambiguous.
As someone who gave his assent (however insignificant) to the current Wine license, *I* do not use the word "steal" to refer to the actions of such companies.
You're right. They most certainly are NOT stealing. They are, in fact, making better use of what they have been given than pure end users, who produce nothing of greater value from the code.
--Brett Glass