Re: SCC

crispinat_private

Valdis.Kletnieksat_private wrote:

>Hint - why are nVidia's non-GPL drivers OK?  Because I can download them,
>BUT I CAN'T DISTRIBUTE THEM.
>
I don't understand that: nVidia has distributed the drivers to you. If 
the drivers hare GPL-tainted, then you have GPL rights to the nVidia 
driver source. If they are not GPL-tainted, then the terms of the nVidia 
drivers are whatever nVidia's EULA says.

>What Mark got wrong here is that the mods are almost certainly a "work for
>hire" and SCC didn't "distribute" them - legally, SCC made modifications to
>NSA's copy.
>
... and *that* is an extremely fine point of the law. It is a very 
subtle interpretation to say that SCC was "employed" by NSA when doing 
the initial SELinux work, and therefore the movement of the GPL'd kernel 
code did not actually involve "distribution".

I submit that whether any of us are lawyers or not, we are all just 
speculating as to whether the above interpretation will hold up or not, 
in a court of law. A court fight is the only thing that will really 
settle such a question, and it would be very messy and expensive for all 
concerned. Be careful what you wish for :(

Approximately four things can happen here:

   1. The SELinux community can drop Type Enforcement like a hot rock
      and go forward based on some other model(s).
   2. The SELinux community can choose to tolerate the above
      interpretation, and carry on using SELinux at risk of SCC changing
      their policy towards the patented methods.
   3. The SELinux community can choose to fight SCC's "Statement of
      Assurance" in court. Note that this option can be bound late,
      deploying a legal battle only if SCC changes their policy to a
      more restrictive policy.
   4. SCC can withdraw their statement of assurance, and go with a
      strictly GPL license on the patent.

While I would prefer #4, I'm betting that #2 is actually what will 
happen, with a late-binding version of #3 in the background.

Caveat: as usual, since I am not party to any of this, what I would 
prefer and what I expect have no impact on reality. Caveat haxor.

Crispin

-- 
Crispin Cowan, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist, WireX                      http://wirex.com/~crispin/
Security Hardened Linux Distribution:       http://immunix.org
Available for purchase: http://wirex.com/Products/Immunix/purchase.html

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