Hi, On Mon, Oct 16, 2000 at 08:23:45AM +0100, Edmund GRIMLEY EVANS wrote: > Mark Wielaard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > > If the patent were only valid in the USA, would it still have to be > > > removed? > > No, but it would be moved to Debian non-US so only 'patent safe' servers > > outside the USA would carry it. > > Are you sure? > > I thought that there was no problem with distributing software that > uses a patented technique. Therefore there would be no problem with > having the software in Debian. > > Note that in some countries it is illegal to use some of the software > in Debian. However, there is no separate "non-Russia" section, etc, > and there is no need to create one. > > As I understand it, the purpose of Debian non-US is to avoid problems > with US cryptography legislation. Fortunately, these problems are > specific to the US. If they weren't, Debian would need 2^N-1 sections, > where N is the number of countries in the world.
Yes, you are right. I was not completely sure. I was under the impression that software patents were only a real problem in the USA. But you are right. I looked at the packages in non-US and they seem to all contain cryptographic software. Although you are probably right that only the use of a patented method is restricted I am not sure that it is always safe for Debian to distribute software that implements something that is patented (if it is not licensed under a free/public license). Cheers, Mark
