Posted by: Anonymous
[ip: 147.206.4.254]
on July 07, 2008 08:59 PM
"They must enforce their copyrights or they stand to lose them."
That is not true. You are thinking of trademarks (and service marks), which lose their validity if they are not enforced. Copyrights, patents, and trade/service marks are all separate concepts.
"Want to be revolutionary? Include proprietary codecs in your own distribution and understand the hows and whys."
Whether or not you understand the "hows and whys", it still may be illegal to include proprietary codecs. The sticking point is often subsequent redistribution.
The GP poster seems to advocate simply ignoring the law, claiming that corporations are not going to sue "the community". This is plain nonsense. Look at how many ordinary individuals have been sued by the RIAA over vague allegations of copyright infringement. If a company believes that its revenue stream is being impacted by anything that could remotely be considered "infringing", it is highly likely to sue, once it becomes aware of the "violation".
More importantly, I think it is critical that distributions follow the law very scrupulously from the standpoint of public relations. We're the "good guys", remember? I think it is a huge mistake to let our opponents claim that they are the upright, law-abiding ones, and that Linux users are engaging in shady activities.
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Posted by: Anonymous [ip: 147.206.4.254] on July 07, 2008 08:59 PMThat is not true. You are thinking of trademarks (and service marks), which lose their validity if they are not enforced. Copyrights, patents, and trade/service marks are all separate concepts.
"Want to be revolutionary? Include proprietary codecs in your own distribution and understand the hows and whys."
Whether or not you understand the "hows and whys", it still may be illegal to include proprietary codecs. The sticking point is often subsequent redistribution.
The GP poster seems to advocate simply ignoring the law, claiming that corporations are not going to sue "the community". This is plain nonsense. Look at how many ordinary individuals have been sued by the RIAA over vague allegations of copyright infringement. If a company believes that its revenue stream is being impacted by anything that could remotely be considered "infringing", it is highly likely to sue, once it becomes aware of the "violation".
More importantly, I think it is critical that distributions follow the law very scrupulously from the standpoint of public relations. We're the "good guys", remember? I think it is a huge mistake to let our opponents claim that they are the upright, law-abiding ones, and that Linux users are engaging in shady activities.
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