Thought I'd fwd this note that I found on the Groklaw site, usually a good resource for legal issues dealing with Free and Open Source Software.
You've probably all seen by now that (part of) the source code to Microsoft's WindowsNT and Windows2000 has been leaked. If you do a P2P search, you can probably find it. However, it would be a good idea if you contribute to FreeDOS to *not* look at the Windows source code, or even download it.
The note from Groklaw:
<http://www.groklaw.net/>
Original Article:You probably heard that Slashdot has a story that there may have been a massive leak of code from Windows 2000 and NT. Microsoft denies it.
Groklaw normally doesn't report rumors, but in this case, it seems appropriate to say something early. If there is such a leak, I hope nobody looks at this code. Not one peek.
Here's why, taken from Franklin Pierce's "Copyright for Computer Authors" by Thomas G. Field, Jr. on avoiding copyright infringement:
"As discussed earlier, copyright gives owners the exclusive right, for example, to reproduce protected subject matter (such things as ideas and facts being excluded). Sometimes a question arises as to whether a second, similar work was copied or independently created. If the person creating a second work had access to the original work and the works are virtually identical, copying is likely to be presumed even if the chance of access is remote."
Anyone looking at this code could bring to an end any opportunity to contribute to FOSS [Free and Open Source Software -jh] software in the future.
We've actually addressed this issue before. Some years ago, the source code to MS-DOS was leaked. For a while, I would get about an email a week from people (who probably thought they were being helpful) asking if I wanted access to the Microsoft code. I have always said "no", because having access to the MS-DOS source code could compromise my work in FreeDOS. We have a FAQ about the topic, here:
http://fd-doc.sourceforge.net/faq/cgi-bin/viewfaq.cgi?faq=General_Information/12
This applies equally well to the Windows source code. Don't look.
Thanks.
-jh
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