[Ksummit-discuss] [CORE TOPIC] GPL defense issues

[James Bottomley]

On Fri, 2016-08-26 at 06:03 +1000, Dave Airlie wrote:
> On 25 August 2016 at 17:03, Josh Triplett <josh at joshtriplett.org>
> > - EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL and MODULE_LICENSE.  I know that some history 
> > exists   suggesting that they've helped with some cases.  Do they
> > potentially make enforcement more difficult, though?  (This also 
> > includes informal or internal enforcement/compliance efforts; for 
> > instance, EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL may provide a supporting argument for 
> > such efforts, but conversely EXPORT_SYMBOL may then hinder such
> > efforts.)
> 
> Oh I really wish someone could answer that. I hate _GPL as I believe 
> it makes it legal to create GPL modules with MODULE_LICENSE, when 
> really they violate the license just as much if not more. If 
> something isn't a derivate work for MODULE_LICENSE, but using one 
> _GPL work somehow makes it one, is insane.

Well, having talked to some corporations who are fast and loose with
kernel modules: They fear accessing the GPL symbols (by lying about
their module licence) because, in the US, their lawyers have advised
them that this could be construed as circumventing a technological
protection mechanism under the DMCA.

I'm not sure I believe that pushing symbols to become GPL only helps
because the lawyers now seem to think that open source shims which give
access to the symbols are generally OK.

> Although I can't attend this year, I think there should be less stop 
> energy from the senior developers, and more discussion in the only 
> place it's probably safe to discuss this, in a closed room with no 
> press, I'm nearly sure this is one of the reasons KS existed in the 
> first place to have unreportable discussions.
> 
> Everyone who stays in the room can later drink heavily and deny any 
> knowledge of having been there.

That's about what we did last year.

Just on that, I would like to remind everyone that last year, we did
something fairly similar to what's being proposed and the sky didn't
fall ... there may have been a few irritated corporations, but there
weren't huge consequences.

What I think last year demonstrated was that we could use the forum of
the KS to have a useful dissemination of information and I think it's
got to be better than simply refusing to talk about it.

James