[svlug] Fedora or Ubuntu for novis

[Alan DuBoff]

On Sat, 20 Sep 2008, Rick Moen wrote:

> You'll see on my "public domain" licensing page a copy of my
> correspondence with Prof. Larry Lessig, a couple of years back, about
> CC's public domain dedication statement: He admitted that the concept
> was problematic, and uncertain to achieve its intended effect, e.g.,
> depending on the judge and/or jurisdiction.  At the time, he said (IIRC)
> that he recommended to the webmaster that the page be considered for
> removal (or rewrite or something), next time the site got revised -- but
> then nothing happened.

Rick,

Isn't this going by the assumption that:

1) A public domain license wouldn't stand up in a court of law.

2) it is not sufficient for the owner of record to declare "I 
wish to no longer be regarded as the owner of this property." 
(taken from your web page)

Certainly, IANAL, but these are key assumptions it would seem, 
no?

I question though, why it would not be sufficient for someone to 
no longer take ownership? There is nobody forcing anyone to use 
the software, in the case of the NSA they disclaim and place a 
limitation on liability. Wouldn't that protect, and make their 
disclaim of ownership, valid?

I realize that the U.S. Government is a special case, since any 
works created by them can not have copyrights placed on it. That 
in itself seems good to me. How would the U.S. Government be 
treated any different in a court of law? I suspect you 
understand this better than myself, and why I'm asking you.

It would seem that the U.S. Government could set a precedence so 
that there could actually be a reasonable consensus amongst a 
majority.

Even you admit that it is possible that a public domain 
declaration could have no legal effect (not your exact words but 
close).

Don mentioned to me previously that one reason the type of 
license is invalid is due to parties trying to evade 
product-liability lawsuites, but that shouldn't be the case, if 
a disclaimer exists.

Anyway, thanks for the dialog.:-)

--

Alan DuBoff - Software Orchestration