todd@Quotron.COM (Todd_Booth) (12/07/90)
There are many files in the ka9q which don't have a copyright notice. May I assume that the only reason ka9q is not PD is that a few of the files have a copyright license. I have contacted Phil Karn who said I could send him a check for $10,000 for a site licence but we're intested in creating a product to ship to customers. If we rewrite the copyright files could we then (for the first time) have a PD tcp/ip kernel with a bsd socket interface? -- todd (booth) todd@quotron.com 213 302-4368 ..!uunet!quotron.com!todd
karn@envy..bellcore.com (Phil R. Karn) (12/07/90)
I have made it a rule to not use either USENET or the Internet for discussions having to do with the commercial use of my KA9Q code. However, since the issue has unfortunately been brought up here by someone else I felt I should send this one message to clarify publicly the status of KA9Q. As is evident from the startup message, the entire KA9Q package is copyrighted. Most of the "base" code was written by me, while certain major subsections (e.g., SMTP, NET/ROM, the mailer command, etc) were written by several other volunteers who retain the copyright on their own contributions; see the individual source files for details. (If there is no authorship notice in a particular file, then you can assume that I wrote it.) All of these modules are available under the same conditions: they may be freely copied and used without charge by noncommercial users such as universities and amateur radio operators, but commercial copying and use requires permission from the appropriate author(s). If you are in this latter category, please call me at home: (908) 561-2970. The best times to reach me are late evenings (east coast time) and weekends. I do travel a lot and I keep infamously irregular hours even at home, so you may have a hard time getting though at first. But if you leave a message we should eventually hook up. Please do NOT send me email; if you do, you will simply get a response asking you to call me at home. Thanks, Phil
GD.WHY@FORSYTHE.STANFORD.EDU (Bill Yundt) (12/07/90)
REPLY TO 12/07/90 02:32 FROM SDD.HP.COM!ELROY.JPL.NASA.GOV!JARTHUR!NNTP-SERVER.CALTECH.ED: ka9q and copyright law Mr. Booth, I am not an attorney but have dealt with software licensing and intellectual property rights periodically over the last 20 years. I think you should consult an attorney for answers to questions of the kind you pose and not rely on the PC/IP board for this purpose. I will, however, offer you one bit of advice because others might suffer from the same misconception your note implies. You must ASSUME copyright whether or not a copyright notice is present. The 1976 federal copyright legislation changed the rules which used to require that a copyright notice be conspicuous on a copyrightable work for it to be protected; now the author is protected under the law from the moment the expression (e.g. writing/typing) creates the copyrightable matter..... whether or not there is a notice in evidence. In the case of multiple programs composing a single "work" (e.g. ka9q), I think you would be wise to treat all the parts as copyright by Mr. Karns unless you have obtained explicit written permission from the author to do otherwise. Further, it is my belief that Phil Karns, having generously provided the right to copy and use his work for specific non-commercial purposes is more than justified in seeking to share in any commercial exploitation of that work for profit and am I am appalled that a company like Quotron does not simply negotiate a fair and honest royalty arrangement for commercial use of the work with the deserving author. I further remind all users of this mail list that it and the Internet access to it are intended for support of research and education and not purely commercial interests of the kind Mr. Booth is pursuing. I believe his use of USENET-to-Internet mail for this purpose to be a violation of the Interim NSFNET use rules and am forwarding his communication and this note to NSF authorities for their information. Those supplying mail-forwarding for this class of traffic are, in my opinion, in technical if not substantive violation of the applicable use rules. Bill Yundt Executive Director, Bay Area Regional Research Network Board Member, Federation of American Research Networks Director, Networking and Communication Systems, Stanford University To: PCIP@UDEL.EDU, TODD@QUOTRON.COM
david@wubios.wustl.edu ("David J. Camp") (12/09/90)
In Reply to this Note From: <Todd_Booth> >There are many files in the ka9q which don't have a copyright notice. >May I assume that the only reason ka9q is not PD is that a few of the >files have a copyright license. I have contacted Phil Karn who said >I could send him a check for $10,000 for a site licence but we're >intested in creating a product to ship to customers. If we rewrite the >copyright files could we then (for the first time) have a PD tcp/ip >kernel with a bsd socket interface? Absolutely not. The old copyright law may have allowed you to do this, but according to the Berne Convention, it is no longer necessary for an author to apply a copyright notice to a work to enforce his copyright. The files without copyright notices are under the full protection of the U.S. copyright law. I have heard that there may be some way to bypass the law by exporting and reimporting the product, but I know little about this. -David- > > >-- >todd (booth) > >todd@quotron.com 213 302-4368 >..!uunet!quotron.com!todd > david@wubios.wustl.edu ^ Mr. David J. Camp david%wubios@wugate.wustl.edu < * > +1 314 382 0584 ...!uunet!wugate!wubios!david v "God loves material things."
sfn20715@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve "il-Manhous" Norton) (12/09/90)
david@wubios.wustl.edu ("David J. Camp") writes: >this, but according to the Berne Convention, it is no longer necessary >for an author to apply a copyright notice to a work to enforce his >copyright. The files without copyright notices are under the full >protection of the U.S. copyright law. I've heard of this Berne Convention before--does anyone know if there is an electronic copy of the agreement somewhere that I could obtain via mail, FTP, or anything else?
annala@neuro.usc.edu (A J Annala) (12/25/90)
>I further remind all users of this mail list that it and >the Internet access to it are intended for support of >research and education and not purely commercial interests >of the kind Mr. Booth is pursuing. I believe his use of >USENET-to-Internet mail for this purpose to be a violation >of the Interim NSFNET use rules and am forwarding his >communication and this note to NSF authorities for their >information. Those supplying mail-forwarding for this >class of traffic are, in my opinion, in technical if not >substantive violation of the applicable use rules. > >Bill Yundt >Executive Director, Bay Area Regional Research Network >Board Member, Federation of American Research Networks >Director, Networking and Communication Systems, Stanford University Mr. Yundt: I would personally appreciate it if you would restrain yourself from posting threats to this bulletin board and/or sending any allegations of improper use of the network facilities to government officials. Close to 20 percent of the postings propagated over the network could easily be interpreted as falling outside of the official guidelines for network use. However, sending complaints of the kind you propose to regulators might easily result in termination of network access for a very large portion of the network readership. I don't think taking that kind of risk is worth the very small possibility someone in authority might take any action against the original poster in this line of discussion. Frankly, there is quite enough threat to our freedom of speech ... and funding of network resources ... without some self proclaimed legal eagle screwing everyone over. On the other hand, if you want to cause serious trouble for everyone -- why don't you just bulk print the alt. personals, alt.sex, and alt.sex.bondage newsgroups and mail them to some right wing religous conservatives in the congress -- then sit back and see who's hide gets burned in the process. In short -- show a little more tolerance -- or start looking for another network connection -- the federal free ride for your opinions is likely to come to an end real soon.