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Hi,

Interesting reading - all looks plausible to me!

But, as you say, there are a couple of points that make it somewhat less =
than=20
safe to go ahead (using GPL'd tools and saying so, having already read - =
and=20
implemented against - the spec).

Also, it wants to be in kdemultimedia rather than kdelibs, it wants to be=
 GPL=20
to fit the rest of KDE, and I sooo don't have the resources or inclinatio=
n to=20
defend it in court. :(

Sod it, unless anyone else wants to take it up I'll remove it from the fe=
ature=20
plan until such time as I've forgotten everything in the spec and can=20
implement it purely from xine/ffmpeg (btw- wonder how they implemented it=
=2E.? =20
perhaps before the anal licensing clauses were added..)

btw - from what I can see, you're the guy to quiz about the vCard classes=
, you=20
may have another mail from me somewhat soon ;)

Cheers=20

Shane

On Saturday 20 July 2002 7:18 pm, Rik Hemsley wrote:
> #if Shane Wright
>
> Here's my reading. Note that I'm just going by my personal understandin=
g.
> I'm pretty confident I will make some incorrect statements, so please
> be kind :)
>
> > 2 (c) ...Further, you shall use commercially reasonable efforts to
> > ensure that the use or distribution of your Solution, including the
> > Implementation as incorporated into your Solution, shall not in any
> > way disclose or reveal the information contained in the
> > Specification.
>
> Doing anything other than releasing it under an Open Source license
> would be commercially unreasonable in your case, so I wonder if this
> clause is enforcable using its maybe-intended meaning.
>
> > 2 (g) ...your license rights to the Specification are conditioned
> > upon your (a) not distributing the Implementation in conjunction with
> > Identified Software (as defined below);
>
> Translation: You're not allowed to distribute it with anything other th=
an
> kdelibs (based on my later reading that LGPL is ok), so it can't be in
> any of the other KDE modules, though can be distributed separately from
> KDE.
>
> > (b) not using Identified
> > Software (e.g. tools) to develop the Implementation;
>
> Translation: You're not allowed to edit the code using a GPL text edito=
r
> (EMACS), nor are you allowed to compile it using gcc while developing i=
t. I
> don't see anything about compiling it with gcc _after_ it's been develo=
ped.
>
> I also don't see how they could prove you edited the code with EMACS or
> compiled it using gcc unless you add EMACS modelines, use gcc extension=
s,
> explicitly state that you have used either of them in the development
> process, etc.
>
> > and (c) not
> > distributing the Implementation under license terms which would make
> > the Implementation Identified Software....    ...Identified Software
> > includes, without limitation, any software that requires as a
> > condition of use, modification and/or distribution of such software
> > that other software distributed with such software (x) be disclosed
> > or distributed in source code form; (y) be licensed for the purpose
> > of making derivative works; or (z) be redistributable at no charge
>
> Translation: You're not allowed to make it GPL, but you can make it LGP=
L.
>
> > Part 2 (d) is also annoying; it says that my 'Solution' (the KFile
> > plugin), must implement the Spec in it's entirety; hardly appropriate
> > for its purposes.
>
> Difficult one.
>
> > So, the way I read that, I can't develop the plugin because:
> >
> > (a) I don't want the implement all of the spec,
> > (b) I'm using GPL'd tools to implement it,
>
> Oh dear, you said that in public.
>
> > (c) It will be GPL'd when done,
>
> Looks like that's impossible, but my reading is that LGPL is possible,
> plus probably some of the other Open Source licenses (BSD, MIT...)
>
> > The point is, am I reading this wrong?  Is it legal to develop the
> > plugin? Alternatively, would it have been legal if I hadn't read the
> > spec and just based it purely on xine's ASF/WMV code?
>
> I think it would have been legal, had you not seen the spec, but
> of course IANAL.
>
> Rik

- --=20
Shane
http://www.shanewright.co.uk/
Public key: http://www.shanewright.co.uk/files/public_key.asc
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