Re: [unrev-II] Knowledge Space

From: Paul Fernhout (pdfernhout@kurtz-fernhout.com)
Date: Mon Nov 06 2000 - 18:02:26 PST

  • Next message: Eric Armstrong: "Re: [unrev-II] Knowledge Space"

    Rod Welch wrote:
    > Information from books, articles, newspapers and so on, are all intertwined with
    > our view of the world, which is integrally part of daily communication. If the
    > Internet is to provide effective support for daily knowledge work, it needs to
    > support efficient communication, which means we cannot waste time asking
    > permission prior to communicating. The burden should be attribution, not
    > permission to use.

    My concerns about "permission to use" have to do specifically with how
    Bootstrap and Stanford framed their policy for the list. Not requiring
    attribution for used materials is something I can probably live with,
    given the existence of "moral rights" which can't be signed away (a
    legal term referrign to proper representation of authorship). However
    "permission to use" also puts all liability on the contributor for any
    use Stanford or Bootstrap might in any way make of contributed IP, and
    that IMHO makes it foolish and risky for developers to make significant
    contributions of code-type IP under something like "permission to use"
    (beyond relatively non-controversial emails or links). The example again
    is if you (unknowingly) contribute code that infringes on a software
    patent -- you basically have to indefinitely pay the cost of any of
    Stanford or the Bootstrap Institute's present or future use of that
    patent or sublicensing. As "permission to use" is overly broad in this
    way it might be struck down in its entirety by a court if tested, but
    that is still risky.

    -Paul Fernhout
    Kurtz-Fernhout Software
    =========================================================
    Developers of custom software and educational simulations
    Creators of the Garden with Insight(TM) garden simulator
    http://www.kurtz-fernhout.com

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