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On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 1:00 PM, Rich Freeman <rich0@g.o> wrote: |
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> On Sun, Jan 15, 2017 at 3:28 PM, William L. Thomson Jr. |
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> <wlt-ml@××××××.com> wrote: |
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> > On Saturday, January 14, 2017 8:16:58 PM EST Rich Freeman wrote: |
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> >> |
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> >> Honestly, saying that the Trustees legally have authority over the |
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> >> Council is a bit like saying that the MPAA legally has authority over |
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> >> anybody downloading torrents. |
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> > |
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> > The Council does not exist from a legal perspective. It has no legal |
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> > authority. Only Trustees can represent the Foundation legally. |
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> > |
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> |
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> I never claimed otherwise. |
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> |
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> However, this is a bit like saying that the MPAA has authority over |
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> The Pirate Bay because the latter doesn't really exist legally, at |
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> least not in the sense of a traditional corporation. |
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> |
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> There is a difference between having legal authority and having power. |
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> In a court of law there might not be a difference, but very little in |
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> the way of FOSS happens in courtrooms. |
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> |
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> -- |
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> Rich |
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> |
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> |
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IANAL |
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IIRC the whole purpose of the gentoo foundation is to own the IP and |
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insulate the actual developers from legal issues, thus saith my dev quizzes. |
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The MPAA does not have legal authority over the pirate bay, it CAN however |
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secure legal authority by filing a lawsuit against anyone administrating |
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pirate bay activity, getting subpoenas, asking governments to issue |
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indictments, and so on. There CAN be legal process against the individuals |
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responsible for pirate bay stuff, and possibly any seeders or leachers they |
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track down. Steele learned this the hard way when the FBI arrested him for |
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the prenda law shenanigans, for example. |
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Similiarly, "gentoo" cannot be sued, because it does not exist as a legal |
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entity. The Gentoo Foundation, however, can sue and be sued. It would |
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legally be empowered to enforce, say, the GPL against people who violate |
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its copyright over gentoo code, or press criminal charges against hackers |
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who attack foundation servers or other property. |
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Rich0 is wise to point out that legal letter of the law is not the only |
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factor of importance however. |
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