Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on August 15, 2006 02:23 AM
The reference to ham radio does not hold up. Ham radio is a public medium where identification is a requirement and where anyone can listen in on transmissions. If someone runs afoul of the law, it is eventually discovered and the culprit eventually caught and punished. Just read ARRL's enforcement logs to see how it is done.
No one could watch the behavior of a war plane and determine that a particular piece of software is running it. And no one can demand to see the source code of a controlling mechanism for a military device and expect a government to roll over. Even if a court ruled that the military must disclose the code, it could easily be declared a state secret. And even if the court went so far as to hold the military in contempt, there would be little it could do enforce the ruling.
At best, such a license provision is a political statement that gains some momentary attention in the press. It wreaks with arogance, because it assumes the publisher has power exceeding that of a military force. It's like saying, "You can't use this software. And you'd better not, either, or else..." It conjurs images of indignant youth throwing rocks at well-armed police and flipping them the bird while running in retreat. This is one of the most pathetic ways I've seen yet of taking a stand.
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Posted by: Anonymous Coward on August 15, 2006 02:23 AMNo one could watch the behavior of a war plane and determine that a particular piece of software is running it. And no one can demand to see the source code of a controlling mechanism for a military device and expect a government to roll over. Even if a court ruled that the military must disclose the code, it could easily be declared a state secret. And even if the court went so far as to hold the military in contempt, there would be little it could do enforce the ruling.
At best, such a license provision is a political statement that gains some momentary attention in the press. It wreaks with arogance, because it assumes the publisher has power exceeding that of a military force. It's like saying, "You can't use this software. And you'd better not, either, or else..." It conjurs images of indignant youth throwing rocks at well-armed police and flipping them the bird while running in retreat. This is one of the most pathetic ways I've seen yet of taking a stand.
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