Russell Coker writes: > As the US government is prohibited from owning copyright they definately > can't get a copyright in their own jurisdiction,...
The US government definitely is allowed to own copyrights. The restriction is on _enforcing_ their copyrights on works of which they are author. > ...and possibly can't apply for one in another jurisdiction (depending on > interpretation). And on the jurisdiction. > The NSA paid a sum of money (rumored to be $2M) to SCC to write a Linux > kernel patch to be distributed under the GPL which implements their > patents. Then most likely either SCC owns the copyright or they assigned it to NSA. > The issue is that SCC was paid to write code for GPL release. Claiming > otherwise would probably be a breach of their contract with the NSA... Which only NSA can enforce. My first guess is that if SCC were to start enforcing its patents against you then Linus et al could sue NSA to stop distributing the patched kernel and NSA in turn could sue SCC for specific performance. Perhaps it would be possible to use the FOIA to get the terms of the contract? Maybe NSA's lawyers already thought of all this. I think it is perfectly legal and safe to distribute and use the patches now, but it seems possible that SCC could start enforcing its patents at any time, thereby stopping distribution. -- John Hasler [EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Hasler) Dancing Horse Hill Elmwood, WI