[Gllug] Star office

[David Damerell]

On Wednesday, 28 Nov 2001, William Palfreman wrote:
>On 28 Nov 2001, Nix wrote:
>>On Mon, 26 Nov 2001, David Damerell moaned:
>>>As far as anyone knows, in the EU, this isn't even a legal insanity;
>>>it's a fiction existing only in the minds of software companies.
>>And in .au, it is enshrined in the reasoning behind the passing of
>>certain laws. Wonderful.
>Sorry, but what are you both talking about?  What is it about the Star
>Office/Open offices licences that is fictional?

"Shrink wrap" licenses that impose restrictions on your use of
software are fictional in the EU. The only way in which you can agree
to such a license is by entering into a contract - which you don't
normally do when buying boxed software, and in any case when buying
software at a shop you could only enter into a contract with the
shop, not with the software producer, since a contract demands an
exchange of value (and your exchange of money for media has been with
the shop.)

Hence, you are normally only bound by the provisions of copyright law,
which deal normally with copying and redistribution.

This does not affect most free software licenses, since they deal
only with modification and redistribution - activities which you
normally could not do at all without permission from the copyright
holder.

-- 
David Damerell <damerell at chiark.greenend.org.uk> flcl?

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