Public domain software is not open-source?

[Alexander Terekhov]

Quoting Rich Mohe (rick at linuxmafia.com):

> juridictions determine who next acquires ownership, if you _do_ lose
> ownership.  (Many computerists confuse abandonment of property title
> with its nullification.  One suspects this is a key bit of confusion
> behind the notion of creating public domain materials by fiat.)

I think that many "computerists" (courts aside for a moment) simply
don't confuse abandonment of copyright with a ship that is derelict at
sea or thrown out sofas.

Abandonment of copyright eliminates copyright exclusive rights and
work enters public domain.

Same effect as a disclaimer of all claims in a patent under 35 USC 253.

See for example:

http://0-www.uspto.gov.mill1.sjlibrary.org/web/offices/com/sol/og/2004/week24/patdisc.htm

-------
   6,650,596 - David Bruce Kumbyr; Samer Farid Najjar; Dalal Fathy
Younis, all of Austin, TX. METHOD OF CALCULATING RELIGIOUS HIJRI
CALENDAR. Patent dated November 18, 2003. Disclaimer filed February 2,
2004 by the assignee, International Business Machines.

   Hereby disclaims all claims and dedicate to the Public the remaining
term of said patent.
-------

:-)

> To sum:  You can _purport_ to put your (unexpired) copyright into the
> public domain.  If you do, the effect in any given jurisdiction may owe
> more to the whims of a local judge than to anything else.  He/she may

To sum:

http://www.tomwbell.com/writings/(C)Esc.html#fn268

"See Pacific & S. Co. v. Duncan, 572 F. Supp. 1186, 1196 (N.D. Ga.
1983) (finding that television station abandoned copyright in news
broadcasts because evinced intent to do so by destroying copies
thereof), aff'd in relevant part, 744 F.2d 1490, 1500 (11th Cir.
1984); Hadady Corp. v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 739 F. Supp. 1392,
1399 (C.D. Cal. 1990) (finding that notice limiting copyright to a
two-day period effectuated abandonment after that time); see also
National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc., 191
F.2d 594, 598 (2d Cir. 1951) (asserting in dicta that copyright's
owner may abandon it "by some overt act which manifests his purpose to
surrender his rights in the 'work,' and to allow the public to copy
it"), modified, 198 F.2d 927 (2d Cir. 1952)."

http://www.tomwbell.com/writings/(C)Esc.html#fn269

"U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Information Infrastructure Task Force,
Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights, Intellectual Property
and the National Information Infrastructure: The Report on the Working
Group on Intellectual Property Rights 16 (1995) ("Those creators who
wish to dedicate their works to the public domain may, of course, do
so notwithstanding the availability of protections under the Copyright
Act."); Robert A. Kreiss, Abandoning Copyrights to Try to Cut Off
Termination Rights, 58 Mo. L. Rev. 85, 92 (1993) ("[A]bandonment of
copyright can be done explicitly or implicitly.") (footnotes omitted);
Henry H. Perritt, Jr., Property and Innovation in the Global
Information Infrastructure, 1996 U. Chi. Legal F. 261, 292 n.119
("Copyright owners may relinquish their property interest and put
their works in the public domain."); see also 2 Goldstein, supra note
217, § 9.3 (describing how abandonment functions as a defense to
copyright infringement); 4 Nimmer & Nimmer, § 13.06 (same)."

regards,
alexander.

--
"12/21/2007 ORDER TO EXTEND TIME FOR DEFENDANT...
 01/22/2008 ORDER TO EXTEND TIME FOR DEFENDANT...
 02/19/2008 ORDER TO EXTEND TIME FOR DEFENDAT(sic)...
 02/26/2008 ENDORSED LETTER addressed to Judge Laura Taylor Swain from
Daniel B. Ravicher...
 02/27/2008 ORDER that Defendants Verizon Communications, Inc. has
until March 14, 2008..."

 -- 1:07-cv-11070-LTS aka Never Beginning "GPL Enforcement" case