[License-discuss] Permissive but anti-patent license

[Ken Arromdee]

On Wed, 2 Jan 2013, John Funnell wrote:
> I do believe a clause can apply retroactively. If not, I could
> download the Linux kernel with good intentions, wait a week and then
> turn evil and, with that copy, violate GPL exactly as I pleased.

The requirements of the GPL apply when making copies.  If you turned evil a
week later, that wouldn't matter, since the GPL wouldn't actually require that
you do anything, as long as you don't start making copies after you turn evil.
It wouldn't apply retroactively--the copies that you already made are still
good.