> From: Tim <ignored_mailbox@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > Subject: > To: For users of Fedora <fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx> > Message-ID: <1183605180.2993.17.camel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Content-Type: text/plain > > On Wed, 2007-07-04 at 18:12 -0400, Erik Hemdal wrote: > > I understand that the Fedora project wants to take a > principled stand > > for free software, and this is very admirable. But with the Betamax > > safe harbor not so safe anymore, it's no wonder that Fedora doesn't > > link to any sites for non-free software. > > You could logically extend that argument to say that Fedora shouldn't > provide usenet clients or web browsers, since they can be > used for such > purposes, too. Or, more to the point, peer-to-peer software like > gtk-gnutella... One certainly might do that, Tim. That's the core of the problem with the various recent attacks on copyright law. One thing can lead to another, with a destructive effect on the balance between the rights of authors and the rights of users. That says nothing about the destructive effect on the person or organization being sued. I don't know if one could make such an argument effectively, because I'm not an attorney. But some fairly big disputes have been raised over less. Here in the US, a customer sued his dry cleaner for $54 million over a lost pair of pants. Here's a link about it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062500 443.html The judge awarded nothing in the case, but the dry cleaners still face thousands of dollars in legal bills because they had to defend themselves. Even though they did nothing wrong, they've lost. Erik
