From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on aws-us-west-2-korg-lkml-1.web.codeaurora.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=3.0 tests=DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,MAILING_LIST_MULTI,SPF_PASS autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.0 Received: from mail.kernel.org (mail.kernel.org [198.145.29.99]) by smtp.lore.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1E114C43387 for ; Tue, 1 Jan 2019 20:03:32 +0000 (UTC) Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [209.132.180.67]) by mail.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DB20820836 for ; Tue, 1 Jan 2019 20:03:31 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: mail.kernel.org; dkim=fail reason="key not found in DNS" (0-bit key) header.d=memeware.net header.i=@memeware.net header.b="MYSMoGLr" Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1727182AbfAAUDa (ORCPT ); Tue, 1 Jan 2019 15:03:30 -0500 Received: from cock.li ([185.100.85.212]:58832 "EHLO cock.li" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1725919AbfAAUDa (ORCPT ); Tue, 1 Jan 2019 15:03:30 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/simple; d=memeware.net; s=mail; t=1546373007; bh=6FwiCcleh+lWAycTjvk5rum67ZchQonJTw1P8Ydty+c=; h=Date:From:To:Cc:Subject:From; b=MYSMoGLrtsZgvHxb/PYgJxXenQ54KOZ5L7u1t9SEA3+zIDQrxwboyYBz9i6Qn109V VkyNfAm+hwBgfjVeaiipAgrlLWvzdmrHx6Ip3ibAWsyczAOnkVPVJJ+kqEIwM8748o TuMsySB+xg0yXNBZrVgNPigsszXvy2tlW8Xm+TIInQVu211ZXD1Ux94gA2N/FTlvfU HGVoR6YsHwA8sT98m9bdoKYacWSJSoxX74yaTCuOFuNy5QiIyaxC+041zQdz2FkQTI y96Ny4DCecEkUI8H3VYgjC5D2dbsyDpu4DsmXwsUJldbneOaWrJsj181vQWu+R8dd6 SVjHinYnZsVWw== Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2019 20:03:26 +0000 From: vnsndalce@memeware.net To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, debian-user@lists.debian.org, legal@lists.fedoraproject.org, users@lists.fedoraproject.org, rms@gnu.org Cc: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org, ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com, misc@openbsd.org Subject: Without an attached interest you can very well revoke the license and prevent all further distribution of your code, and further use of it in future versions. Message-ID: <5ff2d769e29faad86bab566335820a29@memeware.net> X-Sender: vnsndalce@memeware.net User-Agent: Roundcube Webmail/1.3.6 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org > The GPL is not revocable despite not being a contract. It is a license > to distribute software and you cannot revoke the license on already > existing publications. All you can do is revoke the license on future > publications. >> 1014527 Without an attached interest you can very well revoke the license and prevent all further distribution of your code, and further use of it in future versions. You can revoke the license. What you are thinking about is the normal case of commercial distribution licenses - which have an attached interest (they were paid for, the licensor received consideration). Almost all court cases involve such issues. Not bare licenses. Additionally you are thinking about consumer protection statutes that would run against the property owner successfully suing for the destruction of all current now-unlicensed copies in existence. Once the license is revoked the linux team may no-longer use the revoked code in future versions. They no longer have permission - the license they were given ceases to exist. Normally the copyright owner then has the option to pray to the court that all unlicensed copys be destroyed. The court, as you put, is unlikely to grant this form of relief regarding existing copys that existed prior to the revocation. That does not mean that Linux Team still is licensed to modify or distribute the code: they are not. The license does not survive the revocation.