Re: [Fsuk-manchester] [DEB] If You Support Free Software, Talk To Your MP Now

[Robert Burrell Donkin]

On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:44 PM, Robert Burrell Donkin
<address@hidden> wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 5:40 PM, Lucy <address@hidden> wrote:
>> On 15 March 2010 17:27, Robert Burrell Donkin
>> <address@hidden> wrote:
>>> On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 12:17 PM, Jon Spriggs <address@hidden> wrote:
>>>> I checked on this issue with Glyn Moody - an investigative reporter who
>>>> follows stories related to free and open source software. His response was
>>>> that the copyright notices issued in GPL Licensed Software should be
>>>> sufficient to resolve this.
>>>
>>> then glen needs to check his facts :-)
>>>
>>> (it's forgivable since the bill is poorly drafted and isn't understood
>>> by ministers - but that's what you get when you allow laws to be
>>> written by lobbyists)
>>>
>>> the GPL can only be enforced in the absence of other licenses (read
>>> the preamble or any of the commentaries)
>>>
>>> DEB allows ministers to issue additional unconditional licenses for
>>> orphaned works
>>>
>>> pretty much all software works are orphaned (it's a list checking
>>> exercise not about actual ownership)
>>
>> If a program has a GPL license statement at the top of the file, how
>> can it be considered orphaned?
>
> orphaned works for the purposes of DEB are all those that don't appear on a 
> list

let me qualify that...

the orphaned works section uses enabling and everything it contains
may be varied by Ministers using regulation

so, the general powers granted to ministers are to issue additional
licenses for a fee for any work they consider to be "orphaned" as
defined by themselves

on the positive side, if you became the minister then you could decree
that additional GPL licenses would be available for all microsoft
products

- robert