Re: GPLv3 Position Statement

Jeff Garzik
2006-09-25T19:46:47Z

Neil Brown wrote:
> But maybe I am just misinformed. Maybe there are dozens of different
> manufacturers making devices that use DRM to prohibit freedom despite
> using GPL code, and maybe there are hundreds of submarine patents
> owned by distributors of GPL code and embodied in that code that the
> owners are going to start suing us overs.... Is there a list of these
> somewhere?

At least for patents, lawyers scream bloody murder if a list of patents
is posted. Once that is done, people can no longer claim ignorance of a
patent.

>> What is the stance of the developer team / kernel maintainers on DRM,
>
> While I cannot speak for other developers (and sometimes have trouble
> speaking for myself), one stance I have often heard is that DRM is
> simply a tool - one that is largely based on cryptography which is
> just another tool. They can have good uses and bad uses just like the
> TCP/IP stack (think 'spam'). So code to implement then would (if of
> suitable quality) be allowed into the kernel. If you want to make DRM
> illegal, speak to your member-of-parliament, not your code developers.

This is a KEY POINT: There can be good DRM as well as bad DRM.

Jeff