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DateMon, 25 Sep 2006 15:46:37 -0400
FromJeff Garzik <>
SubjectRe: GPLv3 Position Statement
Digg This
Neil Brown wrote:
But maybe I am just misinformed. Maybe there are dozens of different manufacturers making devices that use DRM to prohibit freedom despite using GPL code, and maybe there are hundreds of submarine patents owned by distributors of GPL code and embodied in that code that the owners are going to start suing us overs.... Is there a list of these somewhere?

At least for patents, lawyers scream bloody murder if a list of patents is posted. Once that is done, people can no longer claim ignorance of a patent.


What is the stance of the developer team / kernel maintainers on DRM,

While I cannot speak for other developers (and sometimes have trouble speaking for myself), one stance I have often heard is that DRM is simply a tool - one that is largely based on cryptography which is just another tool. They can have good uses and bad uses just like the TCP/IP stack (think 'spam'). So code to implement then would (if of suitable quality) be allowed into the kernel. If you want to make DRM illegal, speak to your member-of-parliament, not your code developers.

This is a KEY POINT: There can be good DRM as well as bad DRM.
Jeff


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