RE: LVS Beginner's question.

[Paul Lantinga <prl@xxxxxx>]

[snip]
> >> Joe Shmoe off the street has no right to ask for your
> GPL'd code unless he
> >> has also gotten (or paid for, as the case may be) a binary
> from you.
> >
> >This may be true, but once someone has a copy of the source they may
> >redistribute it as they please, including handing a copy
> over to Joe Shmoe.
> >
> >--
> >Horms
> >       
>
> Under the GPL, section 2, subsection 3, second paragraph, it stated:
> "b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish,
> that in whole
> or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any
> part thereof, to
> be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties
> under the terms of
> this License"
>
> It stated the ALL third parties.  It did not say that only
> give to the party
> who received the binaries.

Hmmm, I think an email to FSF is in order to clear this up, b/c it is an important distinction.  As to the rest of this email: I make no claims as to having any legal skills nor do I claim this to be legal advice.

Paragraph four of the GPL preamble states:
 "For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether
gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that
you have.  You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the
source code.  And you must show them these terms so they know their
rights."

So, what is not clearly given, IMHO, is a specific definition of the term 'third party' or 'third parties' as found in sections 2b, 3b, 3, and 6.  Here's my logic on this:

Legal mumbo jumbo generally refers to specific parties such as 'you', 'the company' 'we', etc.  Here, this might mean a company that has modified gpl'd code and sold this package to  a client for $.  The license could then mean that for ALL customers to whom you sell your package, you must inform them of the gpl licensing (section 3) and make the code available to them if requested.  To me, it seems fairly clear that the license is dealing with the interaction between the receiver and the giver only.  If you control who you give to, you only need make source code available to those to whom YOU give it.

but then again... I'm not a lawyer, so maybe not. ;)

The FSF should be consulted.

regards,

Paul L.
[I'm NOT speaking on behalf of my company with respect to this topic.]