[ale] Are our Ethernet drivers in danger?

[Joseph A. Knapka]

This is a quite from a message in the siliconvalley.com forum
on open-source vs commercial software:
<URL:
http://forums.siliconvalley.com/msgshow.cfm/msgboard=5968009897410465&msg=4951219996565791&page=1&idDispSub=5145094516046185>.

Essentially, the argument is that Donald Becker's release under
GPL of Ethernet drivers developed with NASA funding is a violation
of federal law. Does anyone here know enough about IP law to have
an informed opinion about this matter?

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>          Author 
>                             Message 
> 
> 
>          Brett_Glass 
>          06/28/01 10:31 PM 
> 
>                              RE: RE: The government should not sponsor
>                              GPLed work 
> 
>                             You [Bruce Perens - JAK] write:
> 
> 
>                                  NASA has sponsored a good deal of [work on Linux].
>                                  For example, many of the ethernet drivers by Donald
>                                  Becker were sponsored by NASA.
> 
> 
>                             If so, it is contrary to Federal law for those drivers to have been
>                             licensed under the GPL, because Federal law requires that the fruits of
>                             NASA's research and development be available for use by the private
>                             sector to develop new products. A vendor that wishes to use the code
>                             might well want to pursue this. 



-- Joe Knapka
"You know how many remote castles there are along the gorges? You
 can't MOVE for remote castles!" -- Lu Tze re. Uberwald
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