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List:       kde-policies
Subject:    Re: P2P file sharing software in KDE's CVS
From:       Scott Wheeler <wheeler () kde ! org>
Date:       2003-09-12 19:42:48
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On Friday 12 September 2003 17:44, Waldo Bastian wrote:

> There are risks associated with all code in KDE, in the form of copyright
> misrepresentation, patent infringement and trademark violations.

And in general we take them pretty seriously.  I know specifically Dirk has 
been watching some pattent issues pretty closely.

> I think the primary guiding principal in all these cases should be the 
> desire to stay within the law.
> 
> P2P file sharing software is not very much different from other software 
> used to publish information such as ftp and http clients and servers. I 
> suspect that your concerns are based on the fear that P2P file sharing 
> software will be used by our users to illegally distribute copyrighted works 
> and that you fear that KDE will be liable for contributory copyright 
> infringement. 
> 
> Although that can't be ruled out, just like copyright misrepresentation,
> patent infringement or trademark violations can't be ruled out, we can do a
> reasonable effort to ensure that KDE stays within the law.
> 
> In particular, I think that:
> * KDE should not ship software for which no legitimate/legal use exists.
> * KDE should not encourage/link/suggest to its users to engage in
> illegitimate/illegal activities.
> * KDE may wish to advice its users about the possible impact of certain
> activities in cases where that may not be directly clear to a non-technical
> user. (e.g. we warn a user about possible privacy concerns when he/she is
> about to send data to babelfish for translation.)

All of your statements are of course correct (in a technical sense).

But bottem line -- in my opinion including applications like these pretty 
significantly increases the chances of the KDE project being sued.

Do you either (a) disagree with that or (b) think that significantly increased 
chances of legal action are not a relevant reason for keeping something 
outside of CVS?

Note that either of those are fine -- again, I just want to have this issue 
hashed out with some logic behind it.

- -Scott

- -- 
Peace and humptiness forever.
- --Digital Underground
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