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Received: by minnie.vk1xwt.ampr.org with NNTP id AA5422 ; Thu, 24 Dec 92 05:01:30 EST Xref: sserve comp.unix.bsd:9289 misc.legal.computing:1899 misc.int-property:882 Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd,alt.suit.att-bsdi,misc.legal.computing,misc.int-property Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!sgiblab!spool.mu.edu!uunet!mcsun!sunic!ugle.unit.no!nuug!nntp.nta.no!hal.nta.no!styri From: styri@hal.nta.no (Haakon Styri) Subject: Re: AT&T/USL CD-ROM Review Process Message-ID: <1992Dec22.101217.6792@nntp.nta.no> Sender: styri@hal.nta.no (YuNoHoo) Nntp-Posting-Host: balder.nta.no Reply-To: styri@nta.no Organization: Norwegian Telecom Research References: <1ge0aaINNm4d@neuro.usc.edu> <1992Dec13.165418.5021@sbcs.sunysb.edu> <1992Dec13.183240.23944@blaze.cs.jhu.edu> <1992Dec14.165913.6896@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <1992Dec15.223317.158@nntp.hut.fi> Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 10:12:17 GMT Lines: 26 In article <1992Dec15.223317.158@nntp.hut.fi>, jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala) writes: > In article <1992Dec14.165913.6896@fcom.cc.utah.edu>, terry@cs (A Wizard of Earth C) writes: > > Second, Linux is arguably more like SVR3 (and by extension SVR4) than > > 386BSD; this, I believe, puts it in more danger of censure. The thing > > that has protected Linux so far is its international (non-US) origin. > > This is not something USL has to worry about forever, it's simply an > > inconvenience to prosecution, not a barrier. If a judgement were given > > regarding copyright infringement by Linux against USL's materials, it > > wouldn't matter that the judgement occurred in the US; Linus' government > > would be forced by the Berne convention to uphold the judgement. > > Is this really so? I don't think so, but what do I know. First, I > think Berne is much more limited than the current trend of the U.S. > application of copyright laws to just about anything. Second, as > Linux's country of origin is Finland I think it would be the Finnish > laws that would apply, not U.S. You're right that the Berne convention is more restricted than current US legislation. Anyway, the Berne convention only gives a set of rules that should be _interpreted_ using the Finnish legislation. If something cannot be copyrighted in Finland the Berne convention will not help. Another point is that things may change due to the GATT agreement. --- Haakon Styri