2010/12/10 andre999 <and...@laposte.net>: > > We should remember that patents are a civil right accorded by rules > differing from country to country. Many countries don't offer patents on > software.
But some do and here we are talking about those that do. > Patent holders have to use the courts to enforce these rights, who often > deny or limit patent holder's claims. It is not about enforcing patent rights, it is about distributing software which is infringing existing patent rights in said countries. > So in addition to any theoretical rights of software patent holders, there > is the consideration "is it worth the money and effort for the potential > gain in royalties" ? This is not the question because we are not talking about costly court trials. > "cease and desist" letters are just warnings. Any attached "bill" would > only have effect if validatated by a court. Yes, I can refuse to pay, then it goes to court. And with an existing law which protects patented software, who do you think will win? > And how does that translate for free software ? It has nothing to do which subject it is. Such warnings are sent out to the hundreds about all kinds of things like missing or incorrect imprints on websites or whatever. There are whole lawyer's companies specialized on that. Remember, we are not talking about Mageia and/or large companies or organisations as I already wrote, we are talking about the private mirror maintainer who has no backup. Well, maybe I can not make myself understood sufficiently. All I can say, it has nothing to do with paranoia, it is reality. We (mandrivauser.de) decided unanomously not to mirror PLF because of such reasons because there are possibilities of such liabilities even in Germany. So, all in all my point is: separating such software from the rest makes it possible for mirror maintainers in such difficult areas to decide. Mixing such software with all other software makes it almost impossible for same small mirrors to mirror Mageia at all. -- wobo