What happens if you break an open source license and include a code released under GPL in a closed source project? Can you go to jail? Who will sue you? For what? "Not respecting the will" of those who created the free source code? Is there any support in the jurisdiction (of any state) that would put any punishment to those who do not ...
I'm curious about a the following scenario, and I haven't been able to find a clear answer so far. Say a piece of software X uses another piece of software Y, for example Y might be an open source library. If Y is then found to be infringing a patent held by a third party, is X also infringing and therefore potentially subject to litig...
If I develop software as an European company how much do I have to worry about US software patents? ...
Let's start with an example: http://weloveastrid.com/ As you can see, their promotional screenshots are surrounded by a picture of an actual hardware - Nexus One in this case. Is the usage, for purely commercial reasons, of those pictures of existing hardware legal? Do I have to ask a manufacturer for permission? In spirit of the quest...
I just wrote a little game for droid. I was thinking I would put some put some adds in it and release it for free and maybe I'd make a buck or two. I'm wondering what I need to do before I sign up for this. First, I live in Canada. I assume there might be some sort of problem getting paid from the US? I do not have a company. Can I ...
For example, say that I want to make a program that solves linear equations. Say I find an open source program that does this and I decide to read it, study it, and generally tweak it to my liking and keeping around 70% of the code. If I give 100% undisputed attribution to the original author both in source code and my website (I'm no...
http://directory.fsf.org/project/libgcrypt/ I am coding and application in C++, the application uses libgcrypt, so -lgcryptoption is passed to GCC C++. my source code includes "#include " i am using the library as "SHARED" meaning its not distributet with the executable of my application. the library is licensed under GPLv3/LGPL, do ...
Hey all, We're considering using MySQL in a .NET project. We're aware that there's a connector available on mysql.com that's dedicated to .NET, and that it's under a GPL license. We're having trouble interpreting the GPL license so we've thought we'd ask around : If we were to use that connector, are we obliged to make the project's so...
Can I use OSS software binaries (including gcc/mingw,perl,python,cygwin?) to develop our own (commerical, close-source) program, no open-source code will be built in or even used. For example, can I use perl to build a simple auto-incremental-compile daemon, and not distribute the code back to the public in any form. It seems impossibl...
I am about to enter into a contract which includes the following section about "work for hire" COMPANY desires to contract [NAME] (“Contractor”) to perform work for hire on a project basis. This work is in connection with information technology work performed for COMPANY and its clients. ... Contractor will per...
I was looking at oracle liecense, it looks cheap for named user plus. I mean if I develop a web application in which user has no interaction with database other than registering and logging in and if I make a virtual user inside server to do all these things that is get user name and password from users ect. keep them in queue and execut...
I'm about ready to market my first Android App (from a US Google Checkout/Merchant account with US bank account etc.), and I would like to have the user at least agree to some kind of simple liability disclaimer before he/she can install the app. To your knowledge, is it possible, and if so, what would be the best way to do this? Your ...
Disclaimer: I know there aren't any lawyers here, but I'd like to hear some opinions. I'm making a Python application using PyQt4 for the GUI. It will be open source, maybe GPL, but rather MIT/BSD licence since I don't see the value of copyleft for it. Since I cannot rely on users to have PyQt installed (in fact, I'm safe to assume that...
I have been working on a project in my personal time that has nothing at all to do with my main job. I work on it after work, on the trolley to work, and on the trolley from work. I store all my source code in my own personal repository on my personal server in my apartment. While at work, I use the same computer which I purchased to do...
Imagine you see some picture that should not appear in normal circumstances, e.g. seemingly when graphics card or some program malfunctioned and display nonsense. For example, overheated graphics card crashed and the system frozen, displaying severely corrupted image (it may look unrelated to what it should display, but also may be rela...
4.4. You may not develop multiple Applications to simulate or act as a single Application or otherwise access the Service in a manner intended to avoid incurring fees. That's what GAE's ToS says here. My question is, would I be violating this by having my blogs, forums and etc. hosted as separate apps and putting them all on s...
Although I understand this site is by no means a place for legal advice, and I'm not looking for any lawyers to step up and defend their cases, I'm certain that there are other programmers out there who have dealt with this and can share their thoughts and experiences. My general question is, what constitutes non-commercial? If some sof...
I just got an automated response email from a company that had someone elses registration info in it. The person that responded to the email expressing my concerns refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem. I've think i've heard you are legally required to hash certain sensitive information (credit card info for example) even if...
I thought I could use this icon (free for commercial use) in an application to indicate that a USB device has been plugged into the system. But someone told me that the USB logo itself can't be used without permission. I'm trying to understand the guidelines written on USB.org. So far I get your product must pass the "USB-IF Test Proced...
I work in the research group and over the last year I have written library which I would like to be released under GPL terms. First I must convince my employer/professor that GPL is a good thing. He is not opposed to releasing software and source per se. His concerns seem to be: plagiarism for commercial gain involvement with legal i...