GPL and internal use

[nospam+pixelglow.com at pixelglow.com]

Dear All,

There seemed to be a great debate a few years back regarding whether a company
could augment GPL software for its own, private use and never release any
modified sources. The general consensus from googling around seems to be: yes,
GPL does allow that (doesn't bode well for dual licensing which relies on the
viral, er, reciprocal qualities of GPL, especially since the majority of
software development occurs within private company use...)

I'd like to know the parameters or limits of this, if any.

For example, Trolltech seems to take a severe view of distribution in GPL,
possibly because their old QPL explicitly disallows internal distribution
without opening the code.

See http://www.trolltech.com/developer/faqs/license_gpl.html#q112.

In particular, if a company augments a GPL software, it can distribute and copy
this to all its designated agents, everywhere its jurisdiction occurs? How
about company "divisions" which are legally and logically part of the company?
How about external consultants and contractors bound by an NDA to the company
or some other sort of legality, are they allowed to receive, copy and
distribute the software as well (within the bounds of the company)?

Cheers,
Glen Low, Pixelglow Software
www.pixelglow.com
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