GPL 3s DRM Provisions Raise Eyebrows - ' Page 3 ' (
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Simon Phipps, the open-source officer at Sun Microsystems, said he is particularly encouraged to see ideas such as the patent peace concept and the move toward compatibility with other open-source licenses.
While HPs Martino would not comment specifically on the patent provisions in GPL 3.0, saying the company does not have a position on this at the moment, "This is an area we will continue to monitor and assess," she said. "We think there will be a lot of comments on the DRM and patent provisions. As we stated, HP doesnt have positions on these at this time but will be watching closely and commenting as we see fit within the FSF Discussion Group process."
With regard to concerns expressed by some in the community that the discussion process for the draft license could potentially be dominated by the large Linux vendors, Moglen said these worries are unwarranted.
The other concern—that Stallman will unilaterally decide on changes to the GPL—is also unfounded. "These are really complementary concerns. My personal view on this is that the process we have been engineering is one in which all the pressures net to zero," Moglen said.
Co-author Eben Moglen says the GPL rewrite should not be seen as a democracy. Click here to read more.
But that depends, in large measure, on the weight of public participation and the transparency of the process. "The discussion committees on which the corporate representatives sit are only there to discuss what people say. They are not there to determine the outcome or write the license," he said.
Read more here about the discussion process for GPL 3.0.
"I understand the worry, which is justified in the sense that one would want a process that would resist those kinds of pressures," Moglen said. "We have shown, by showing the design of our process and sticking to it, that we mean to resist those kinds of pressures. Any fair-minded observer looking at what we have done around the openness and transparency of the process will agree that these concerns have already been addressed."
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