Language question

[Abe Kornelis]

John,

what happens when the foundation goes broke? Nothing lasts forever, you
know.

Sorry to approach this issue with so much (undeserved?) suspicion.

Kind regards, Abe.
=============

> Abe Kornelis scripsit:
>
> > When ownership is transferred then associated obligations must pass
along
> > with it. Otherwise the horror scenario appears: company A releases open
> > source software. Many users supply contributions. company A sells
software
> > to company B (owned by same persons) but retains all obligations.
> > Company A ceases to exist. Company B now is owner without obligations
> > to the authors of the contributions. The complete software package is
> > withdrawn from open source by company B. There goes the work we
> > have collectively put into the contributions.
>
> I'm afraid that's perfectly correct.  (IANAL, TINLA.)
>
> Company A can solve this problem (and many have) by setting up a
non-profit
> foundation to hold the copyrights.  If the license is the GPL or another
> FSF-written license, the FSF can also serve this role.
>
> --
> John Cowan <jcowan at reutershealth.com> www.ccil.org/~cowan
www.reutershealth.com
> Micropayment advocates mistakenly believe that efficient allocation of
> resources is the purpose of markets.  Efficiency is a byproduct of market
> systems, not their goal.  The reasons markets work are not because users
> have embraced efficiency but because markets are the best place to allow
> users to maximize their preferences, and very often their preferences are
> not for conservation of cheap resources.  --Clay Shirkey
>



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