[Linux-aus] Bad timing if ever I've seen it; FOSS users are *safer* than EULA-bound

[Arjen Lentz]

On Fri, 2004-08-20 at 13:44, Leon Brooks wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 07:10, Arjen Lentz wrote:
> > On Wed, 2004-08-18 at 10:44, Leon Brooks wrote:
> > > It's also worth noting that TSG was still offering the disputed
> > > code for free and open download from their own servers as at 04
> > > August. Their case has no legs.
> 
> > A copyright holder can give away its stuff to one group and sell it
> > to another. That's its perogative. So, giving away something can in
> > no way be regarded as an indication of lack-of-ownership.
> 
> That's not their problem. If TSG also gave it away, they can't ask IBM 
> for damages against any lost sales of it.

That would make sense on the surface, but we know that these cases
aren't actually based on sense at all.

Think about BSA/BSAA cases, where damages are consistently calculated in
terms of the number of illegal copies x recommended retail price. This
has no bearing on reality whatsoever.

If a component is free somewhere but costs in another contexts (slight
different bundle/offering), a court may well decide (backed by funky
legislation as well as by equally funky prior judgements) to go with a
calculation that is quite similar to BSA/BSAA logic.
My point is that the "giving away" won't necessarily matter, even there.

Regards,
Arjen.
-- 
Arjen Lentz, Technical Writer, Trainer
Brisbane, QLD Australia
MySQL AB, www.mysql.com

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