Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3

Tim Post
2007-06-18T14:34:33Z

On Tue, 2007-06-19 at 00:05 +1000, Marek Wawrzyczny wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:49:56 Anders Larsen wrote:
> > On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:54:56 -0300, Alexandre Oliva wrote:
> > > I don't know any law that requires tivoization.
> >
> > Not exactly laws, but pretty close:
> >
> > Credit-card payment terminals are subject to strict security
> > certification, where it has to be ensured that
>
> IANAL but I think a second, probably fictional but not unrealistic scenario. A
> Linux-based in-car entertainment system. I believe there are laws in certain
> countries that require the front screens to be off when the car is in motion
> to prevent the driver from being distracted.
>
> Assume that the hardware does not prevent the user from uploading modified
> software (with the restriction removed) and the user modified the system and
> then causes a crash with fatalities.
>
> I imagine there are countries where a civil case could be brought against the
> manufacturer for failing to provide reasonable safeguards against disabling
> the safety feature.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Marek

I can only speak from driving in the US.

I haven't owned a car in years because I refuse to pay for gas, but the
last time I owned one I believe my airbags and ABS system had fuses you
could pull and the car didn't subsequently disable itself.

I'm not sure if things have changed, but that would most likely fall
under some kind of requirement of diligence to make it difficult to
defeat safety measures.

Just having to remove the thing from the dash would (probably) satisfy
the requirement.

Car enthusiasts would never stand for a law that stopped them from
modifying their stuff. It was hard enough getting us all to wear safety
belts :)

I personally like a dash board with lots of lights and stuff, especially
when driving at night. I'd suspect most others who live in dark computer
rooms with lots of blinking lights would too.

Best,
--Tim