Two GPL Questions

[Rick Moen]

begin Chris D. Sloan quotation:

> That can only be done if the all of the relevent copyright holders can
> be found and their permissions obtained, right?

I believe the gentleman's hypothetical concerned specifically software
available to recipients under GPL v. 2 "or any later version".  So, the
answer to your question is "No, they've already given that permission in
advance."

> Assume there is a program called foo which is licensed under GPL v. 2
> or, at your option any later version.  Can I make a change to that
> program and release [my] version of foo under only GPL v. 2?

You can make any (lawful) terms you wish apply to your own additions.[1]
You have no power to change other people's terms, pertaining to
their code.

[1] If those terms are compatible with those of the codebase you're
modifying, then you and others might even be able to lawfully distribute
the result.

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