Re: CDDL, OpenSolaris, Choice-of-venue and the star package ...
On Thu, Sep 08, 2005 at 03:55:56PM +0200, Dalibor Topic wrote: Dalibor> > The application of the Dalibor> >United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale Dalibor> >of Goods is expressly excluded. Dalibor> Dalibor> [snip] Dalibor> Dalibor> That's my favourite bit of lawyerese in MPL-derivative licenses. Dalibor> Dalibor> I wish they had expressly excluded the sharia law on software licenses Dalibor> as practised by the late Taleban ruling Kandahar. Well actually, in most countries part of the UN, the convention applies by default to international contracts. So it is quite relevant to exclude it, otherwise it may seriously be contended that it is applicable. Cheers, -- Yorick Cool Chercheur au CRID Rempart de la Vierge, 5 B-5000 Namur Tel: + 32 (0)81 72 47 62 /+32 (0)81 51 37 75 Fax: + 32 (0)81 72 52 02 signature.asc Description: Digital signature
Re: CDDL, OpenSolaris, Choice-of-venue and the star package ...
On Thu, Sep 08, 2005 at 05:04:00PM +0200, Lionel Elie Mamane wrote: Lionel> Lionel> >>> The application of the Lionel> >>>United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale Lionel> >>>of Goods is expressly excluded. Lionel> Lionel> Yes, but what does it *say*? What are the consequences of it being Lionel> applicable? Well, a whole bunch of stuff ;-) Basically, it clarifies outstanding matters in which countries have widely different conceptions of contracts: formation, hardship, etc. It's not bad, really, because it takes an unformal approach to contracts: no need for written contracts, usages are to be incorporated, etc. And it helps solve the typical problems that arise when two sets of law might apply. Now, I'll have to add that to me, it shouldn't apply most of the time to software licenses because it applies to *sale of goods*, and to me a software license has nothing to do with sale of goods. But, it seems that in some countries there are people who dispute that, so it might be better to be safe than sorry, even though, as I said, there's not much to fear in the convention. My point was mainly that the Vienna Convention was more relevant than the Wallonia act of 1963 on typewriting or whatever the original example of daft legislation was. Lionel> And for my education: Does it apply to "international" intra-European Lionel> contracts? Lionel> ) Yep, if they qualify as sale of goods. For those interested, here's a link to the convention. http://www.jus.uio.no/lm/un.contracts.international.sale.of.goods.convention.1980/doc.html Cheers, -- Yorick Cool Chercheur au CRID Rempart de la Vierge, 5 B-5000 Namur Tel: + 32 (0)81 72 47 62 /+32 (0)81 51 37 75 Fax: + 32 (0)81 72 52 02 signature.asc Description: Digital signature
Re: CDDL, OpenSolaris, Choice-of-venue and the star package ...
On Fri, Sep 09, 2005 at 03:35:20PM +0100, Matthew Garrett wrote: Matthew> The legal system discriminates in favour of rich people. That's true Matthew> regardless of license conditions. Although I don' dispute this assertion per se, the problem at hand is that *geography* necessarily discriminates in favor of people who are closer to such or such jurisdiction. Such a discrimination will necessarily occur. I do not see the difference in the degree of discrimination whether the determination of the group discriminated against is left to international private law or a license. The only argument I can see against choice of venue clauses is that if you distribute your software on a worldwide basis, then you'll have to expect to enforce it's license on a worldwide basis or to not enforce it in certain regions. Of course, that line of reasoning might have a chilling effect on small companies/individual developers. I don't really think there's a perfect solution as regarding discrimination on this issue. -- Yorick Cool Chercheur au CRID Rempart de la Vierge, 5 B-5000 Namur Tel: + 32 (0)81 72 47 62 /+32 (0)81 51 37 75 Fax: + 32 (0)81 72 52 02 signature.asc Description: Digital signature
