Re: mplayer vs. xine

[Konstantin Riabitsev <icon linux duke edu>]

On 31.01.2004 16:25, Eric S. Raymond wrote:
> If livna.org is willing to run afoul of patents and the DMCA to
> distribute libdvdcss, it's hard to believe they'd balk at
> violating these.  But I'll ask.

I think we need to distinguish between ignoring US laws and patents 
outside of the US, and violating international copyrights. Livna may 
distribute libdvdcss and US-patent-infringing software because they 
are outside the jurisdiction of the US, and DMCA/patents don't have 
any power over them (at least at the moment). The "infringing" 
software is still Free in terms of license: there is an explicit 
permission to distribute it where legal.

However, distributing proprietary packages without having a license 
to distribute them would be a violation of international copyrights, 
which is a criminal offense in most of the civilized world. As long 
as livna.org remains outside the US, they are legal in their 
locality because all of their software is free. If they start 
distributing unlicensed stuff, they would quickly lose their legal 
status, be shut down, fined, and likely thrown in jail, because that 
would be no different than running a warez site.

So, I wouldn't suggest putting pressure on them to distribute 
proprietary packages without the permission of copyright owners.

Regards,
--
Konstantin ("Icon") Riabitsev
Duke Physics Systems Admin, RHCE
I am looking for a job in Canada!
http://linux.duke.edu/~icon/cajob.ptml