Re: GPL vs non-GPL device drivers

[Bernd Petrovitsch <bernd@firmix.at>]

On Thu, 2007-02-15 at 17:41 -0500, Jeff Garzik wrote:
> Bernd Petrovitsch wrote:
> > On Thu, 2007-02-15 at 18:40 +1100, Nick Piggin wrote:
> >> Rhetorical question: what stops me from taking somebody's copyrighted
> >> work, stripping the copyrights or falsely claiming to have a license
> >> to redistribute it, then selling it?
> > 
> > No one.
> 
> Well, that's not quite true, is it?  This little microcosm of life has 
> its checks and balances, and certainly strives for an equilibrium.
> 
> You make a choice, as in Nick's example, to balance the risk of being 

ACK.

> caught, being sued, being shamed, and/or being avoided by customers 
> against the perceived rewards.

ACK, *iff* you get caught.

But I cannot stop you if you just do it. Perhaps I can stop you later on
if I find it out, can proove it sufficient to go to court (or at least
threaten enough) and have the economical power to do it.

> Negative incentives are present, is the overall answer, even if they are 
> not immediately obvious and spelled out in excruciating detail.

Of course. And given the cases on gpl-violations.org I fear I'm right.

	Bernd
-- 
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