On Thursday 14 June 2007 14:35:29 Alexandre Oliva wrote:
<snip>
TiVO isn't stopping you from making changes - the *media* is. (in this case
the "Media" isn't even doing as much as a CD-ROM does. The only thing a TiVO
box restricts is which binaries it will execute as the operating system)
No, it isn't. Look at any motherboard. The Bios on the last three or four
motherboards I've purchased check for a digital signature on the Bios
updates. The motherboard manufacturer can make changes, but the customer
can't. Is there any difference? Nope.
No, they don't. The GPLv2 makes no provisions for you being able to execute a
modified copy of the code on the same media or hardware that you received it
on. The fact is that claiming it was "the spirit" doesn't matter at all -
this isn't philosophy you're arguing, its *LAW*, and in law, if it isn't
clearly spelled out, it doesn't exist.
And where does it say that you even have the right to run the "work based on
the Program", or even a self-compiled copy of the "verbatim copy of the code"
on any given piece of hardware?
Done. Section 3 of GPLv2 covers the right to distribute "object code" forms of
a licensed work. At no point does it even *mention* that, if the object code
form comes on a device capable of executing it, you have to give the right to
execute a modified form of the work on the same platform. If this has been
the "intent and spirit" of the license from the beginning, it should be there
somewhere.
DRH
--
Dialup is like pissing through a pipette. Slow and excruciatingly painful.
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