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  • To: Michael Kay <mike@s...>
  • Subject: Re: License Feedback
  • From: 'Alan Gutierrez' <alan-xml-dev@e...>
  • Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 14:07:20 -0400
  • Cc: "'Andrew S. Townley'" <andrew.townley@b...>, xml-dev@l...
  • Mail-followup-to: Michael Kay <mike@s...>,"'Andrew S. Townley'" <andrew.townley@b...>,xml-dev@l...
  • User-agent: Mutt/1.4.1i

* Michael Kay <mike@s...> [2005-08-16 13:14]:
> > Of
> > course, I read once that in every contract is the story of individual
> > loopholes used and subsequently closed in the next version, so maybe
> > this falls into that category.
> 
> One of the great mistakes is that these licenses all read like
> contracts.  They are not contracts, because they don't impose
> obligations on both parties. The license is a unilateral statement
> that the author is waiving certain rights, in particular
> copyright. If the licenses were written like that, it would be
> much clearer that the author cannot possibly have any obligations
> (or duty of care) towards the user. Disclaimers about
> responsibility for nuclear catastrophe only tend to increase the
> impression that there are some events for which the author DOES
> take responsibility.

    My concern about tacking extra disclaimers, exactly that. It
    would muddy the blanket disclaimer. An explict disclaimer, would
    appear to create a lot of implicit claims.

> (In fact, at least in the UK, you're responsible for any serious
>   injury or loss of life caused by your negligence whether or not
>   there was a contractual relationship or duty of care, so this
>   kind of disclaimer is particularly worthless.) 

    I'm not adverse to noting that the software is provided as-is.
    It's legally useful in that it sets expectations.

    I see your point. It's pointless to say you'll not be held
    responsible for crimial conduct.

    This is all helpful. Thank you.

--
Alan Gutierrez - alan@e...
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