Re: Dual-Licensing Linux Kernel with GPL V2 and GPL V3

From: Bernd Petrovitsch
Date: Thu Jun 21 2007 - 05:20:43 EST


On Wed, 2007-06-20 at 18:14 -0300, Tomas Neme wrote:
[....]
> Why, if you let user-compiled kernels to run in a TiVo, it might be
> modified so the TiVo can be used to pirate-copy protected content,

Or it might be modified to fix a bug - either a technical one or a legal
one as described below.

> which is a serious security hole. TiVo would need to read, approve of,

"Pirate copying" is forbidden anyways in almost every jurisdiction
AFAIK. Perhaps we should disallow cars on the streets since one could
drive too fast with them.

And it is not a security hole for the owner of the hardware (I consider
secret keys somewhere else a much greater security threat) to the Linux
community or a lot of other entities. Probably just music industry
thinks like above.

And there are legislations were it is *legal* to make private copies
(for sure as long as you don't pass them on and somewhere even giving
away for nothing is legal). So I actually have a *right* (which also
can't be killed by contracts) to copy that movie for my private use. And
up to now it is actually legal in .at to do (more or less) everything to
get this right (and that may include hacking the device).

> and sign any modified kernels the users intend to use on their
> hardware. If GPLv3 allows for this, it'd be doing exactly that

Bernd
--
Firmix Software GmbH http://www.firmix.at/
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