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Comment Re:Copyright law applies to internal distribution (Score 1) 306

Actually, I think it's only partially incorrect.

Point 6 of the GPL:

6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein.

The question is whether an employee asked to use the software can be considered a "recipient" of the software. For this, I can see arguments both ways - and I do not believe it's been tested in court.

Comment Deployment. (Score 1) 517

Liability should fall with whoever deploys the software - they are the only ones in a position to know of the potential downsides. Contract can shift liability after that point, and insurance can get involved at any point, but that's where it should start.

For FOSS, this means that you're using it at your own risk, unless you're paying someone to take that risk on for you (a business opportunity in its own right). This seems appropriate.

Comment Trademark is well founded. (Score 1) 226

Trademark exists to prevent fraud and protect reputation. Unlike data (protected by copyright, patent, and trade secret), reputation cannot be trivially reproduced - the value of a mark derives from its ability to inform, which evaporates if there are no restrictions on what the mark can apply to. While flaws in the current system are sometimes abused, and there is unquestionably room for improvement, the existence of trademark does not geometrically decrease the value in the system (as the other forms of "IP" do). I suspect this is why there is less railing against trademark than against copyright or patent - it's simply *less* broken.

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