[Asterisk-Dev] voicemail message number limits

[dking at pimpsoft.com]

Your not seeing the full loop:

They give the code to you from CVS as gpl.
You make changes to it as gpl.
You submit it back as GPL, because under the GPL you do not have ANY 
OTHER LEGAL RIGHT TO DO OTHERWISE.
Digum must accept it as GPL, as they do not _legally_ have any other 
choice either.

The GPL is viral, and is VERY explicit about this; No one at any time 
may 'un-gpl' software even for that instance you submit it before 
they copy it into the public domain source tree and add a copy of 
that to update the gpl source tree, no matter how many disclaimers 
you sign you are still breaking the law.

Every single person who has developed for this project has broken the 
gpl by attempting to license the software derivative work as 
something other then GPL and giving rights over to digium they can 
not legally give up. Further more Digium has broken the lay by 
attempting to accept rights it legally can not have ownership of and 
for using the asterisk software in a un-gpl manner.

Yes its something you all don not want to agree is true I understand 
that, but that does not make Digium any more legit in its illegal 
actions as they are the ones at fault, either that or you are all 
personally accountable for breaking the GPL every time you submit 
code as well to digiums breaking of the law.



On 24 Jul 2004 at 21:17, Nicholas Bachmann wrote:

> dking at pimpsoft.com wrote:
> 
> >Exactly. I don't agree with that; There is nothing keeping open 
> >sourced GPL software from being sold commercially without that as 
> >long as the GPL is followed and the source is included when you sell 
> >it. I don't like the idea of a company thinking they can sell the 
> >work of others and not follow the rules.
> >
> >Also keep in mind that what digum is doing in that regard is 
> >technically _illegal_ since having people sign away there rights 
> >  
> >
> It's completely legal for people to sign  over "there" [sic] rights to 
> Digium.  Digium, as the holder of the copyright to all of Asterisk, has 
> the right to license Asterisk any way it chooses, whether by the GPL or 
> any other license.  Digium, in theory, could one day decide that they'll 
> release Asterisk under a BSD license.  This is legal.  Any previous 
> Asterisk releases that were GPL are still GPL and can be distributed 
> within the limits of the GPL.
> 
> >violates the GPL since it _explicitly_ states that all users of the 
> >software _must_ have the same rights as the user before and to follow 
> >it you _must_ give others the same rights you have.
> >  
> >
> But what Digium is doing is retaining the right to license the same 
> Asterisk code in a different way, separate from their GPL obligations.
> 
> >I dont agree with violating the GPL or the law, so I will never sign 
> >the disclaimer/NDA.
> >
> It's NOT an NDA or a disclaimer, it's a waiver of sorts.  The source you 
> get from CVS is just as GPL as bash or the Linux kernel.  If you still 
> don't agree with it, then don't sign it... but please understand what 
> you're doing when you choose not to.
> 
> Nick
> 
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