Re: [Nolug] RMS vs Cisco (Round 1 *ding*ding*)

From: Jeremy Sliwinski (mailing list account) <listbox_at_unix-boy.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:16:47 -0600
Message-ID: <494585CF.5050100@unix-boy.com>

John Souvestre wrote:
> Distribution is only one of the rights. The copyright might disallow the
> patches to start with.

You have to operate on the assumption that the author permits patches.
  We assume that no one patches without that being permitted.

> You seem to be oblivious to the concept that publishing patches to a program can
> cause large financial problems for other users and/or the author. In the former
> case, your patches might not work correctly. Since you claim to own them you
> should be prepared to pay for the losses they cause.
>
> In the latter case, the original author might suffer because of loss of
> reputation, time spent on technical support, and loss of income from his
> extended warranty plan. So you should be prepared for him to sue you, too.
>

One can legally write the software license to limit liability. In
fact, most commercial EULAs limit liability to the cost of the software
when purchased, not to any incidental losses.

J
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