Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S261346AbVDIOiY (ORCPT ); Sat, 9 Apr 2005 10:38:24 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S261347AbVDIOiY (ORCPT ); Sat, 9 Apr 2005 10:38:24 -0400 Received: from mailout.stusta.mhn.de ([141.84.69.5]:7184 "HELO mailout.stusta.mhn.de") by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id S261346AbVDIOiR (ORCPT ); Sat, 9 Apr 2005 10:38:17 -0400 Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 16:38:15 +0200 From: Adrian Bunk To: Raul Miller Cc: debian-legal@lists.debian.org, debian-kernel@lists.debian.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: non-free firmware in kernel modules, aggregation and unclear copyright notice. Message-ID: <20050409143815.GA5208@stusta.de> Mail-Followup-To: Adrian Bunk , Raul Miller , debian-legal@lists.debian.org, debian-kernel@lists.debian.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org References: <87ekdq1xlp.fsf@sanosuke.troilus.org> <20050404141647.GA28649@pegasos> <20050404175130.GA11257@kroah.com> <20050404190518.GA17087@wonderland.linux.it> <20050404193204.GD4087@stusta.de> <1112709907.30856.17.camel@silicium.ccc.cea.fr> <20050407210722.GC4325@stusta.de> <1112944920.11027.13.camel@silicium.ccc.cea.fr> <20050408173400.GA15688@stusta.de> <20050408203122.E32136@links.magenta.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20050408203122.E32136@links.magenta.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.6+20040907i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 2063 Lines: 67 On Fri, Apr 08, 2005 at 08:31:22PM -0400, Raul Miller wrote: > On Fri, Apr 08, 2005 at 07:34:00PM +0200, Adrian Bunk wrote: > > If Debian was at least consistent. > > > > Why has Debian a much more liberal interpretation of MP3 patent issues > > than RedHat? > > It's impossible to treat patents consistently. > > The U.S. patent office, at least, has granted patents on natural laws, > on stuff that's already patented, on stuff with clear prior art, on > trivial math operations and so on. Patents are being granted so quickly > there's no way of even knowing what's patented. > > Or were you hoping that Debian would follow Red Hat's lead? Even RedHat with a stronger financial background than Debian considered the MP3 patents being serious enough to remove MP3 support. Yes, Debian can choose to put a higher risk on their distributors and mirrors - there's nothing wrong with this. Note that this is a respose to Josselin's statement: <-- snip --> When there are several possible interpretations, you have to pick up the more conservative one, as it's not up to us to make the interpretation, but to a court. <-- snip --> It's simply silly to be extremely picky on copyright issues while being extremely liberal on patent issues - the risk of a Debian distributor being sued for patent violations (no matter how the lawsuit might end) is definitely present. > As for this particular patent, I'm not really sure what's being patented. >... Which one of the 23 patents they list do you call "this particular patent"? > Raul cu Adrian -- "Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days. "Only a promise," Lao Er said. Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/