On Thu, 2003-09-25 at 20:22, Richard Todd Carlson wrote: > You'd better read: I'm pretty sure there's a clause in there about > altering the molecular structure of your CPU.
Don't forget the part about giving your first-born son to Bill Gates himself. According to my one of friends who's a patent lawyer and knows quite a bit about contract law, there's no way a EULA can be considered a contract. You had no say it in, and in many cases you can't even read the EULA unless you open or install the package. So it's not a negotiated agreement between two parties. Courts also know that end users rarely understand the agreement anyway, much less read it. Odds are, if it went to court and stayed there (ie didn't settle), EULA's would be tossed out on their ears. Copyright law, and the extensions given by a company to users to allow the use of copyrighted materials would still be of full force. (If the GPL is found to be not legally binding, then all rights to distribute the software cease and everything reverts back to standard copyright law.) One thing I want to try some day when i actually care about it, is to go through the EULA and cross out the parts I don't agree to. If MS doesn't need to sign it and I can merely click it, surely this is as binding on MS as the EULA is on me. The part that we need to understand is that EULA's *do* hold sway in a corporate environment. A mere change in the wording *is* enough to make companies edgy. Whether the company is in the right or not is not the issue. It's the cost of legal action. Many of you already know this, but the Microsoft development toolkit for the PocketPC OS (WinCE) already stipulates that no software may be created with this toolkit that is to be distributed under the GPL (mentions it specifically, I understand and calls it a "viral license"). In this case, Microsoft can dictate licensing terms for the use of it's tools. However this cannot apply to the OS itself. Even the Bush administration would be forced to initiate antitrust actions against Microsoft, should this come to pass. I can think of a couple of ways that Microsoft will try to "outlaw" as it were GPL software on their platforms. First is the use of core Digital Restrictions Management technologies to force the signing by Microsoft of every piece of code that will run on Windows (aka Palladium). This will be done to "increase the security and privacy" of the users. MS need look no further than the last month of worm and virus activity to provide a convincing-sounding argument for the need of such things. Of course GPL software will never be able to get a digital signing key, because that group of developers are of questionable morals, they would say. I mean those are the hackers that write viruses. Plus there are the royalties that would be charged. The second thing MS will do is to forbid the use of GPL software (considered dangerous and unstabling) as requirements for any service and support contract (this is already happening). It may not even be as blatant as that, but perhaps along the lines of requiring $$$/per CPU in the organization, regardless of the fact that 10 of them are Sparcs and another 1000 are in a linux cluster. Anyway, we should be taking these things seriously and have well-thought-out arguments and persuasive ideas to aggressively (more than ever before) promote Linux, BSDs, and other free and open-sourced software solutions whenever appropriate. We can help fight the FUD. Just today my Elder's Quorum president was talking to me and mentioned that his brother knew the guy who created Linux. Not believing that he really knew Linus Torvalds, I asked more. Turned out he knew one of the Canopy group owners. And this guy had actually claimed that he owned Linux. I was quick to set him straight, but ignorant people are believing this kind of garbage out of Lindon. Maybe we should pull together some money and run some ads or something. Nothing inflammatory, just some kind of Linux promo (giving companies we actually support a bit of free advertising, maybe also the PLUG and the UGG) that makes it clear that Linux Torvalds created Linux and that it has no direct Unix ancestor. One final evil though and then I'll go to bed. Ever wonder why we all hate Microsoft so much for skimming money off the top of every computer system on the market when we don't have such a problem with VISA skimming off part of a percent of almost all transactions world-wide. Perhaps they should negotiate a merger. Then the evil empire would be complete. Michael > > >Amen Steve!! > > > >Nick > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: Steve Dibb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent: Sep 25, 2003 8:08 PM > >To: BYU Unix Users Group <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: Re: [uug] Fascinating supposed rumor about SCO and Microsoft > > > > > > > >>/However/, it is chilling to think that they could write in their next > >>license that users are not permitted to use any GPL'd software > >>(Microsoft's greatest bane) on the same computer as the particular > >>Microsoft software. I don't know if that would be particularly legal or > >>not, but they wouldn't even have to enforce it--the scare would be enough > >>to cause plenty of companies to jump ship. > >> > >> > > > >I'd be interested to see how many people understand, much less abide by, > >the end-all Microsoft EULAs. I never read mine, for fear of > >understanding what asinine requirements they want me to agree to. > > > >Ignorance is bliss. :) > > > >Steve > > > > > >____________________ > >BYU Unix Users Group > >http://uug.byu.edu/ > >___________________________________________________________________ > >List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list > > > > > >____________________ > >BYU Unix Users Group > >http://uug.byu.edu/ > >___________________________________________________________________ > >List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list > > > > > > > > > > > > > ____________________ > BYU Unix Users Group > http://uug.byu.edu/ > ___________________________________________________________________ > List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list -- Michael Torrie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ____________________ BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
