Yeah, I hadn't realized the copyright issue. That is a definite no-no, my bad. What they did from a code point of view is still legit, though; there's no violation of the GPL there as far as I can tell.
But you can't claim copyright over someone else's copyrighted work.
NeoNapster distibuted a slightly different version of another GPL'ed project (CDex). They (NeoNapster) released their source code under the GPL.
So where is the problem? This is exactly what the GPL was intended for.
Sure they're very similar products, so what? Look at the Linux distributers -- especially in the early days, the only differences were the install programs.
Sure NeoNapster "bundled" some dubious features, but so what again? Don't use it. Or get the source, edit it to remove stuff you don't like, and release your own project under the GPL.
The only way you could "illegally" encrypt something is if you had an "illegal" browser (based on your locality's laws). Your browser, if it's legal in your country, will only have your government's sanctioned weak crytographic algorithms and/or keys.
More of the onus of checking this falls on the software manufacturers and distributers... that's why you have 3 pages of questions before you can download Netscape. It is unlikely the user will be arrested, but the software manufacturer (or distributer) could become a target.
You can spread the cost out over a few months, if you're building a high-end system. Buy the case one month, the mobo and CPU the following month, etc. then RAM, HD, video, sound... etc. Buy as much as you can afford each month, and if you purchase several items from the same vendor (if you do it online) you can usually save some shipping charges.
If you want a killer system but are on a limited budget (and don't want to pay credit card finance charges) this is a way to do it. Occasionally you can save some money as things go on sale, too.
It's not for those who need immediate gratification though.
Yeah, I hadn't realized the copyright issue. That is a definite no-no, my bad. What they did from a code point of view is still legit, though; there's no violation of the GPL there as far as I can tell.
But you can't claim copyright over someone else's copyrighted work.
NeoNapster distibuted a slightly different version of another GPL'ed project (CDex). They (NeoNapster) released their source code under the GPL.
So where is the problem? This is exactly what the GPL was intended for.
Sure they're very similar products, so what? Look at the Linux distributers -- especially in the early days, the only differences were the install programs.
Sure NeoNapster "bundled" some dubious features, but so what again? Don't use it. Or get the source, edit it to remove stuff you don't like, and release your own project under the GPL.
The only way you could "illegally" encrypt something is if you had an "illegal" browser (based on your locality's laws). Your browser, if it's legal in your country, will only have your government's sanctioned weak crytographic algorithms and/or keys.
More of the onus of checking this falls on the software manufacturers and distributers... that's why you have 3 pages of questions before you can download Netscape. It is unlikely the user will be arrested, but the software manufacturer (or distributer) could become a target.
Nice analogy, and very apt for crypto (and any algorithm/code that has been released to the public).
Too bad this isn't Congressional Quarterly, most legislators don't read /.
I looked at the opengl.org site, as well as sgi.com and mesa3d.org, but the most recent spec I can find is for OpenGL 1.3
Has the spec been released, or is it only available to ARB members?
You can spread the cost out over a few months, if you're building a high-end system. Buy the case one month, the mobo and CPU the following month, etc. then RAM, HD, video, sound... etc. Buy as much as you can afford each month, and if you purchase several items from the same vendor (if you do it online) you can usually save some shipping charges.
If you want a killer system but are on a limited budget (and don't want to pay credit card finance charges) this is a way to do it. Occasionally you can save some money as things go on sale, too.
It's not for those who need immediate gratification though.