"Dean" == Dean Anderson <dean(_at_)av8(_dot_)com> writes:
Dean> This is completely wrong. You are confusing a license with
Dean> a contract. Patent laws in various countries prohibit use
Dean> of patented technology and intentional violations have
Dean> severe penalties, where unintentional violations have
Dean> economic penalties and injunction.
I think you're missing my point. I fully realize that distributing
software may violate patent law.
However a lot of discussion here has focussed on whether the existence
of the Sender ID license causes distribution of software to be
contrary to the GPL.
My point is: clearly, if you aren't a party to the patent license then
its wording can't have any effect on you. Either the GPL allows you
to distribute software that might have claims on it or it doesn't.
Distributing software may (obviously) be unlawful under patent law,
but the wording of a license you haven't agreed to isn't going to
affect your rights under the GPL.
-roy