[BusyBox] [PATCH] networking/ping.c

[Neal H Walfield]

> > > No, we're pretty lax in that regard.
> > If it just a question of a lack of motivation to do secretarial work,
> > I am sure that the FSF would be willing to help: they already do
> > copyright assignments for all of the GNU projects.
> 
> BusyBox is a community project. At least *I* hope that no one person
> would aspire to gain control of the entire copyright.

I was not proposing that the copyright be assigned to anyone person or
be forfeited at all, instead, it should be assigned to a foundation
for protection.  I suggested the FSF because they already have the
logistics worked out.

If you think that the FSF will control the code that you write after
having assigned your copyright to them, you are quite mistaken and
need to reread the copyright assignment contract.

One point of the GPL is wide distribution: something that I think most
of us on this list agree is a Good Thing.  However, the GPL does not,
and cannot, enforce the terms of your copyright: _only_ the copyright
holder can.  If the copyright holder is unavailable, then there is _no
one_ that can defend it.  For instance, Evil Corporation comes and
uses your code under the GPL in a closed source proprietary product
and you are missing or unavailable.  Conclusion: Evil Corporation has
won.

It becomes even more difficult when there are multiple copyright
holders.  In this case, if anyone of them does not cooperate
(including being unreachable), the attacker has, once again, won
without a battle.

When you make an assignment to the FSF, you enter an agreement with
them asking them to look after your code.  The contract that you sign
says that the FSF may not relicense your code and reassigns you the
rights to unexclusive redistribution: you maintain all of your rights
to the code.  If you wanted too, you could take it, use it in a closed
source product and sell it for fifty million dollars per copy: _the
FSF has no power to stop you_.

So, my question to you Aaron, is: what community are you part of: the
Free Software Community or the proprietary software community?  By not
the supporting the assignment of copyright to, e.g. the FSF, the
XFree86 group, et al, I can only assume that you are part of the
latter.