@@ -1981,24 +1981,32 @@ This is a certainly subtle point, and requires a mindset quite different
from the contractual approach taken by EULA authors.
An interesting side benefit to GPLv2~\S5 is that the bulk of users of Free
Software are not required to accept the license. Undertaking fair and
unregulated use of the work, for example, does not bind you to the GPL,
since you are not engaging in activity that is otherwise controlled by
copyright law. Only when you engage in those activities that might have an
impact on the freedom of others does license acceptance occur, and the
terms begin to bind you to fair and equitable sharing of the software. In
other words, the GPL only kicks in when it needs to for the sake of
freedom.
While GPL is by default a copyright license, it is certainly still possible
to consider GPL as a contract as well. For example, some distributors chose
to ``wrap'' their software in an acceptance ceremony to GPL, and nothing in
GPL prohibits that use. Furthermore, the ruling in \textit{Jacobsen
v. Katzer, 535 F.3d 1373, 1380 (Fed.Cir.2008)} indicates that \textbf{both}
copyright and contractual remedies may be sought by a copyright holder
seeking to enforce a license designed to uphold software freedom.
\section{Using GPL Both as a Contract and Copyright License}
\section{GPLv2~\S6: GPL, My One and Only}
\label{GPLv2s6}
A point that was glossed over in Section~\ref{GPLv2s4}'s discussion of GPLv2~\S4
was the irrevocable nature of the GPL\@. The GPLv2 is indeed irrevocable,
and it is made so formally by GPLv2~\S6.
The first sentence in GPLv2~\S6 ensures that as software propagates down the
distribution chain, that each licensor can pass along the license to each
new licensee. Under GPLv2~\S6, the act of distributing automatically grants a