Changeset - d2c59d90e9d6
[Not reviewed]
0 1 0
Bradley Kuhn (bkuhn) - 10 years ago 2014-03-20 12:53:35
bkuhn@ebb.org
Intro paragraph to new section explaining GPLv3's lock-down issue.
1 file changed with 15 insertions and 8 deletions:
0 comments (0 inline, 0 general)
gpl-lgpl.tex
Show inline comments
...
 
@@ -2553,56 +2553,63 @@ copy of its modified software to a contractor exclusively for that contractor
 
to modify it further, or run it, on behalf of the client.  However, the
 
client can \textit{only} exercise this control over its own copyrighted
 
changes to the GPL-covered program.  The parts of the program it obtained
 
from other contributors must be provided to the contractor with the usual GPL
 
freedoms.  Thus, GPLv3 permits users to convey covered works to contractors
 
operating exclusively on the users' behalf, under the users' direction and
 
control, and to require the contractors to keep the users' copyrighted
 
changes confidential, but \textit{only if} the contractor is limited to acting
 
on the users' behalf (just as the users' employees would have to act).
 

	
 
The strict conditions in this ``contractors provision'' are needed so that it
 
cannot be twisted to fit other activities, such as making a program available
 
to downstream users or customers.  By making the limits on this provision
 
very narrow, GPLv3 ensures that, in all other cases, contractors gets the
 
full freedoms of the GPL that they deserve.
 

	
 
GPLv3~\S2's final paragraph includes an explicit prohibition of sublicensing.
 
This provision ensures that GPL enforcement is always by the copyright
 
holder.  Usually, sublicensing is regarded as a practical convenience or
 
necessity for the licensee, to avoid having to negotiate a license with each
 
licensor in a chain of distribution.  The GPL solves this problem in another
 
way --- through its automatic licensing provision found in GPLv3\~S10 (which
 
is discussed in more detail in \S\~ref{GPLv3s10} of this tutorial).
 

	
 
% FIXME: new section here, just to talk DRM before the other section.
 

	
 
GPLv3 introduces provisions that respond to the growing practice of
 
distributing GPL-covered programs in devices that employ technical means
 
to restrict users from installing and running modified versions.  This
 
practice thwarts the expectations of developers and users alike, because
 
the right to modify is one of the core freedoms the GPL is designed to
 
secure.
 
\section{GPLv3's views on DRM and Device Lock-Down}
 

	
 
The issues of DRM, device lock-down and encryption key disclosure were the
 
most hotly debated during the GPLv3 process.  FSF's views on this were sadly
 
frequently misunderstood and, comparing the provisions related to these
 
issues in the earliest drafts of GPLv3 to  the final version of GPLv3 shows
 
the FSF's willingness to compromise on tactical issues to reach the larger
 
goal of software freedom.
 

	
 
Specifically, GPLv3 introduced provisions that respond to the growing
 
practice of distributing GPL-covered programs in devices that employ
 
technical means to restrict users from installing and running modified
 
versions.  This practice thwarts the expectations of developers and users
 
alike, because the right to modify is one of the core freedoms the GPL is
 
designed to secure.
 

	
 
Technological measures to defeat users' rights --- often described by such
 
Orwellian phrases as ``digital rights management,'' which actually means
 
limitation or outright destruction of users' legal rights, or ``trusted
 
computing,'' which actually means selling people computers they cannot trust
 
--- are alike in one basic respect.  They all employ technical means to turn
 
the system of copyright law, where the powers of the copyright holder are
 
limited exceptions to general freedom, into a prison, where everything not
 
specifically permitted is utterly forbidden, and indeed, if the full extent
 
of their ambition is realized, would be technically impossible.  This system
 
of ``para-copyright'' has been created since the adoption of GPLv2, through
 
legislation in the United States, the European Union, and elsewhere that
 
makes it a serious civil or even criminal offense to escape from these
 
restrictions, even where the purpose in doing so is to restore the users'
 
legal rights that the technology wrongfully prevents them from exercising.
 

	
 
% FIXME: Remove FSF specific parts
 

	
 
As a digital rights organization, we would not be following our mission if we
 
did not oppose these injustices.  But the reason our license must respond to
 
these practices at all is the result of a remarkable irony. Those who wish to
 
impose DRM on the public would like to do so by using software covered by the
 
GPL, a license that is intended to preserve the very freedom that they seek
 
to crush.  They are not satisfied merely with publishing programs having
0 comments (0 inline, 0 general)