Should Developers Switch to GPLv3?

Isaac IANAL asks: "Victor Loh of ExtremeTech writes about the General Public License version 3's clause, which requires releasing digital signature keys — in other words, the software should be able to retain interoperability when modified. The article raises an objection, citing Linus Torvalds, that the so-called TiVoisation clause would inhibit open-source adoption in embedded devices among entities such as governments, health care providers, and finance firms. The issue has been discussed on Slashdot many times before. If you're a developer for a platform that needs to run signed code, could you use software under the GPLv3, or does the GPLv3 (at its current, unreleased state) truly inhibit your control as a developer over your device?"

Comments

Stop spreading confusion!

[Cyclops]

You're getting it all wrong starting with the post content!

Victor Loh of ExtremeTech writes about the General Public License version 3's clause, which requires releasing digital signature keys -- in other words, the software should be able to retain interoperability when modified.

The enhanced part is a plain lie. The article of ExtremeTech doesn't even say that!.

Spreading it is (either by ignorance or by malice) helping bad companies, like TiVo for instance.. Please read on the following to understand WHAT the GPL v3 draft says.

The draft version of the GPLv3 says that IF AND ONLY IF the software you want to run, needs some special digital signature, then and only then must the digital signatures acompany the source code.

1. Source Code.

(...)

The Corresponding Source also includes any encryption or authorization keys necessary to install and/or execute modified versions from source code in the recommended or principal context of use, such that they can implement all the same functionality in the same range of circumstances.

(...)

3. No Denying Users' Rights through Technical Measures.

Regardless of any other provision of this License, no permission is given for modes of conveying that deny users that run covered works the full exercise of the legal rights granted by this License.

No covered work constitutes part of an effective technological "protection" measure under section 1201 of Title 17 of the United States Code. When you convey a covered work, you waive any legal power to forbid circumvention of technical measures that include use of the covered work, and you disclaim any intention to limit operation or modification of the work as a means of enforcing the legal rights of third parties against the work's users.

(...)

So, what does all this blurb mean? Is Linus so obtuse he can't read english? No. So...?

I could understand it if he said that he felt he couldn't ignore the contributions of some hardware manufacturers, but what does he say? He says that GPLv3 "sucks" because it prevents legitimate businesses like those of TiVo. That if users don't like that hardware, they can use other hardware.

As usual, untrue pragmatism. The pragmatist doesn't idealize about perfect future conditions that may or may not happen. The true pragmatist solves the problem in a practical and definitive form: preventing the harm from happening.

Re:Stop spreading confusion!

[Sloppy]

but what he is effectively saying is that the legal requirements of the GPL v3 are in direct conflict with American law.

No. You have misinterpreted.

Section 1201 of Title 17 (a.k.a. DMCA) defines circumvention as bypassing controls without authorization, and that authorization isn't something that comes from the law or the government -- it comes from the copyright holder. What the GPL is really doing here, is saying that the GPLed works' copyright holder grants authorization. If you withhold authorization (thereby triggering the malignancy of DMCA) then you have violated the license.

A lot of people seem to think that DMCA prohibits descrambling, but it really just prohibits descrambling without permission. If I hold the copyright on a CSS-protected movie and sell it to you, and I say "You may crack the CSS on this movie" then you legally may crack the CSS on that movie; you will not be violating Article 17 Section 1201. Now imagine if I had some little piece of a movie, such that lots of people wanted to make derived works of my movie fragment, and I licensed it under the condition "you, the licensee, may not forbid circumvention of CSS on your derived work." Then anyone who used my movie fragment, would have to allow CSS to be cracked on their movie. That's essentially what GPL3 is doing here.

It's not "locking horns" with the legal system; it's playing within the rules. And one of the rules is that the copyright holder may grant authorization to bypass.

read these first, they're a good base

[H4x0r Jim Duggan]

For explanations of the changes in GPLv3, I highly recommend reading (or skimming) the transcripts of the GPLv3 conferences. Each transcript includes the subsequent Q&A session, and each begins with a list of links to the topics covered and the questions asked.

The freshest transcript is RMS in Bangalore in August. Here are the others:

• Transcript of Richard Stallman's talk from the 3rd international GPLv3 conference, Barcelona, June 22nd 2006
• Transcript of Eben Moglen's talk from the 3rd international GPLv3 conference, Barcelona, June 22nd 2006
• Transcript of Richard Stallman's talk from the 2nd international GPLv3 conference, April 21st 2006
• Transcript of Richard Stallman's GPLv3 presentation and Q and A from Torino, Italy, March 18th 2006
• Transcript of Richard Stallman's GPLv3 talk from FOSDEM, February 25th 2006
• Transcript of Eben Moglen's presentation at the first international GPLv3 conference, January 16th 2006

Many also include links to audio and/or video recordings, and there's more general information about the timeline and how to participate on FSFE's GPLv3 page.

Also, if you want to help raise the quality of discussion, a useful and really easy thing to do is to pass these links on to others.