Re: CVS is the `released version'

[Robert J. Chassell]

    > ... Most programs, of course, are never used illegally.  But a few
    > may be.  This can be awkward.

    You're confused: unassigned, just means that the copyright is not
    assigned to the FSF.  It may still be (and generally is) properly
    licensed under the GPL.

No, I am not talking about those that are properly licensed.  I am
talking about the one -- that is all that is needed -- that is
mis-copyrighted and is supported by an organization which decides to
litigate, has lots of money, and does not mind losing.

   > Since all software in the United States is copyrighted on
   > creation, ...

   That sounds like making the tool responsible for the crime. ... 

No, it has to do with various ways of fighting to reduce excessive
costs (including the time of people who are not lawyers thinking about
this) for baseless litigation in the US.

Thus, in a country that follows the international treaty, instead of a
programmer making improvements to package.el, he might spend his time
in court instead.

   As we are talking about emacs-lisp packages here, assuming the code
   to be Free is quite reasonable.

That is not true if there is someone willing to spend several millions
of dollars, does not mind the defenses, and likely losing ...

-- 
    Robert J. Chassell                          GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
    address@hidden                         address@hidden
    http://www.rattlesnake.com                  http://www.teak.cc