ESST license

[Bruce Dodson]

If copyright statute says that all rights not explicitly granted are
reserved to the copyright holder, doesn't that mean the user ought to have
gone looking for a license to make sure they had the right to use it?  If
the premise is that you are not aware, then the assumption should be that
you have no rights at all in the software.

Trouble is that in some jurisdictions, the usage is not a right that can be
restricted.  It makes sense: If I receive a book, I can read it.  If I
receive software, I can use it.  So that's why, in those countries, you
can't assume the recipient read your license just because they exercised
their right to use it.  This is part of the reason why, for example, the
GPL's teeth are attached to things like modification and distribution.  For
most people (except lawyers) this is not a problem - after all, what harm
can an isolated end user do?

Regards,
Bruce
--
license-discuss archive is at http://crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3