* Wrote about GPL Section 9, 10, 11, and 12
(chapter{Odds, Ends, and Absolutely No Warranty}): Wrote chapter.
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gpl-lgpl.tex
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gpl-lgpl.tex
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@ -1233,31 +1233,66 @@ free without otherwise negating parts of the license.
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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\chapter{Odds, Ends, and Absolutely No Warranty}
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\section{GPL \S 9}
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\S 0--7 constitute the freedom-defending terms of the GPL. The balance
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of the GPL handles administrivia and issues concerning warranties and
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liability.
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\section{GPL \S 9: FSF as stewards of GPL}
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\label{GPLs9}
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\section{GPL \S 10}
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FSF reserves the exclusive right to publish future versions of the GPL\@;
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\S 9 expresses this. While the stewardship of the copyrights on the body
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of GPL'ed software around the world is shared among thousands of
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individuals and organizations, the license itself needs a single steward.
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Forking of the code is often regrettable but basically innocuous. Forking
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of licensing is disastrous.
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FSF has only released two versions of GPL --- in 1989 and 1991. GPL,
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version 3, is under current internal drafting. FSF's plan is to have a
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long and engaging comment period. The goal of GPL is defend freedom, and
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a gigantic community depends on that freedom now. FSF hopes to take all
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stakeholders' opinions under advisement.
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\section{GPL \S 10: Relicensing Permitted}
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\label{GPLs10}
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\section{GPL \S 11}
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\S 10 reminds the licensee of what is already implied by the nature of
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copyright law. Namely, the copyright holder of a particular software
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program has the prerogative to grant alternative agreements under separate
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copyright licenses.
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\section{GPL \S 11: No Warranty}
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\label{GPLs11}
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There was a case where the disclaimer of a contract was negated because it
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was not "conspicuous" to the person entering into the contract. Therefore,
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to make such language "conspicuous" people started placing it in bold or caps it. My question
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has always been, does that mean all the other parts of the document aren't
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important such that they too need to be "conspicuous."
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With \S 11, the boilerplate language of all copyright licenses begins.
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Sometimes, companies are concerned that there is no default warranty on
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GPL'ed software. However, nearly all proprietary software licensing
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agreements disclaim warranty as well.
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As for disclaiming warranties, remember that there are many types of
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warranties, and in some jurisdictions some of them cannot be disclaimed.
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Therefore, usually agreements will have both a warranty disclaimer and a
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limitation of liability. The former gets rid of everything that can be
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gotten rid of, while the latter limits the liability of the actor for any
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warranties that cannot be disclaimed (such as personal injury, etc.).
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All warranty disclaimer language tends to be shouted in all capital
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letters. Apparently, there was once a case where the disclaimer language
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of an agreement was negated because it was not ``conspicuous'' to one of
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the parties. Therefore, to make such language ``conspicuous'', people
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started placing it in bold or capitalizing the entire text. It now seems
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to be voodoo tradition of warranty disclaimer writing.
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Finally, one important point to remember when reading \S 11 is that \S 1
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permits the sale of warranty as an additional service, which \S 11
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affirms.
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\section{GPL, \S 12}
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\label{GPLs12}
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There are many types of warranties, and in some jurisdictions some of them
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cannot be disclaimed. Therefore, usually agreements will have both a
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warranty disclaimer and a limitation of liability, as we have in \S 12.
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\S 11 thus gets rid of all implied warranties that can legally be
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disavowed. \S 12, in turn, limits the liability of the actor for any
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warranties that cannot legally be disclaimed in a particular jurisdiction.
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So ends the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License.
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%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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\chapter{Integrating the GPL into Business Practices}
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