GPLv3 discussion draft 3 is out

[Alex Hudson]

On Thu, 2007-03-29 at 21:12 +0200, Bjoern Schiessle wrote:
> "So, if the text in brackets is adopted for the final version of the
> license, it is true that this would grandfather in Novell. [..] After
> all, that deal would still be affected by the previous paragraph,
> forcing Microsoft to offer its patent protection to everyone instead of
> just Novell's customers."
> 
> How can both sentences be true?

The first sentence is saying that MS-Novell-like deals would be
prohibited in the future; people entering into such deals would be
unable to "convey" software covered by the GPLv3. 

The second is trying to say that previous paragraph allows you to
convey, even if you enter such an agreement, so long as the patent
protection is offered to everyone. I actually think the second sentence
is mistaken - the previous paragraph says "If [..] you convey [..] a
covered work, and grant a patent license [..] to any of the parties
receiving the covered work, then the patent license you grant is
automatically extended to all recipients of the covered work". That
doesn't apply in the MS-Novell situation. I may be misunderstanding the
intent of the blog author, though.

So, both sentences can be true, because they're saying subtly different
things. (This text is paragraphs 4 and 5 of section 11 of the new draft,
btw).

> "Network access may be denied when the modification itself materially
> and adversely affects the operation of the network or violates the rules
> and protocols for communication across the network."
> 
> Does this mean that i would be able to modify the software on my video
> device but as a reaction the device could disable my access to the
> network which distributes the movies?

No; it means that you could modify the software, and as a reaction the
network operator could revoke your access to the network system you need
to access.

It does open a "loophole", because access to the necessary network
system isn't totally guaranteed, but frankly I don't see how you can
100% guarantee it. People have to be able to control who can access
their network.

Cheers,

Alex.