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% Brief Introduction to the GNU General Public License % Bradley M. Kuhn % Monday 24 March 2014
IANAL
IANAL
My Affiliations
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Formerly had John's job, Executive Director of FSF, years ago.
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Currently: on Board of Directors of FSF.
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President of Software Freedom Conservancy.
How These Orgs Relate to GPL?
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FSF
- Invented copyleft.
- Authors & stewards of the GPL.
- Holder of copyrights on many key GNU programs …
- … and therefore enforcers of those copyrights.
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Software Freedom Conservancy
- Adviser on legal issues of copyright, etc. to Free Software projects.
- Holder of some copyrights on its member projects.
- Enforcer of GPL on behalf of many copyright holders in:
- BusyBox, Samba, Mercurial, and the kernel named Linux.
How this Hour Will Go?
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Materials presented will mix the simple & complex.
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We cannot possible cover the entire GPL in one hour.
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Discuss: motivations, origins, then a few of GPL's sections.
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I understand the mix of backgrounds in the audience.
A Restaurant's Lawyer?
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Considering why you want to learn this.
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What if your client was a restaurant?
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What would you want to need to know?
Restaurant Lawyer: What'd You Study?
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If you were a restaurant's lawyer:
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Probably three areas of law you'd focus on:
- building codes.
- health and safety regulations.
- tax regulations.
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Who would want to hear from?
Restaurant Lawyer: What'd You Study?
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Figure out the motivations behind the building code: + What parts are arcane and less important to inspectors? + How do inspections work? + What are the penalties?
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Figure out the same for health & safety: + Who inspects, and when? + What's the health code say, and what checklist do inspectors use?
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Is there any way the two interrelate?
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Who is in charge of all this?
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What was the purpose and intent of these regulations?
Why Listen To Us?
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FSF: Understanding the purpose and intent of the GPL.
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Conservancy & FSF:
- both enforce the GPL.
- if your client violates, you will hear from us.