diff --git a/gpl-lgpl.tex b/gpl-lgpl.tex index 8c05136..867e62e 100644 --- a/gpl-lgpl.tex +++ b/gpl-lgpl.tex @@ -2573,6 +2573,15 @@ to downstream users or customers. By making the limits on this provision very narrow, GPLv3 ensures that, in all other cases, contractors gets the full freedoms of the GPL that they deserve. +Large enterprise users of free software often contract with non-employee +developers, often working offsite, to make modifications intended for +the user's private or internal use, and often arrange with other +companies to operate their data centers. Whether GPLv2 permits these +activities is not clear and may depend on variations in copyright law. +The practices seem basically harmless, so we have decided to make it +clear they are permitted. + + GPLv3~\S2's final paragraph includes an explicit prohibition of sublicensing. This provision ensures that GPL enforcement is always by the copyright holder. Usually, sublicensing is regarded as a practical convenience or @@ -2645,15 +2654,6 @@ works; rather, GPLv3 forbids the use of DRM specifically to lock-down restrictions on users' ability to install modified versions of the GPL'd software itself, but again, \textit{only} with regard to User Products. -Large enterprise users of free software often contract with non-employee -developers, often working offsite, to make modifications intended for -the user's private or internal use, and often arrange with other -companies to operate their data centers. Whether GPLv2 permits these -activities is not clear and may depend on variations in copyright law. -The practices seem basically harmless, so we have decided to make it -clear they are permitted. - - \section{GPLv3~\S3: What Hath DMCA Wrought} \label{GPLv3s3}