Re: GPL and NDAs

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Article #23300

#23300

From: Henning Makholm
Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2000 00:00

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Scripsit "Paul D. Smith" <psmith@gnu.org>

> Anyway, even if it's GPL'd it's perfectly within Cygnus' rights to
> provide it only to those that they want to, and for whatever price they
> want.

I don't think it's within the GPL to refuse to distribute to anyone
unless they sign an NDA. It violates at least the spirit of this
language from clause 6 of the GPL:

| "You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients'
| exercise of the rights granted herein."

I concede that there may be a formal loophole in that the contract
partner in the NDA (i.e. Sony) is not the same as the party that
accepted the GPL (i.e. Cygnus).

It might be possible to argue that by merely verifying that the
customer has signed Sony's NDA, Cygnus is trying to impose further
restriction onf the customer's exercise of the GPL rights.

--
Henning Makholm                            "Manden med det store pindsvin er
                              kommet vel ombord i den gr�nne dobbeltd�kker."

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<y4902dyklq.fsf@mailhost.neuroinformatik.ruhr-uni-bochum.de> <84ga7c$mih$1@nntp3.atl.mindspring.net> <1999Dec30.151712.1@eisner> <386BD144.22362F3A@gmx.de> <o5wvpubn8g.fsf@tofu.to.cygnus.com> <386E890B.1B191CB@gmx.de> <o5iu1bnlr9.fsf@toenail.to.cygnus.com> <3871419C.7D23AE72@gmx.de> <yf3k8lcrw5j.fsf@sabi.Clara.co.UK> <3880A12D.233E2212@wpi.edu> <p5d7r32gnc.fsf@baynetworks.com>

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From: Henning Makholm <henning@makholm.net>
Subject: Re: GPL and NDAs
Date: 2000/01/15
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