# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/enforcing-gpl.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: enforcing-gpl.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2021-10-03 08:55+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "Enforcing the GNU GPL - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "Enforcing the GNU GPL" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "" "by <a href=\"http://moglen.law.columbia.edu/\">Eben Moglen</a> <a " "href=\"#moglen\"><sup>[*]</sup></a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "<em>10 September 2001</em>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Microsoft's anti-GPL offensive this summer has sparked renewed speculation " "about whether the GPL is “enforceable.” This particular example " "of “FUD” (fear, uncertainty and doubt) is always a little " "amusing to me. I'm the only lawyer on earth who can say this, I suppose, " "but it makes me wonder what everyone's wondering about: Enforcing the <a " "href=\"/licenses/gpl.html\">GPL</a> is something that I do all the time." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Because <a href=\"/philosophy/free-sw.html\">free software</a> is an " "unorthodox concept in contemporary society, people tend to assume that such " "an atypical goal must be pursued using unusually ingenious, and therefore " "fragile, legal machinery. But the assumption is faulty. The goal of the " "Free Software Foundation in designing and publishing the GPL, <em>is</em> " "unfortunately unusual: we're reshaping how programs are made in order to " "give everyone the right to understand, repair, improve, and redistribute the " "best-quality software on earth. This is a transformative enterprise; it " "shows how in the new, networked society traditional ways of doing business " "can be displaced by completely different models of production and " "distribution. But the GPL, the legal device that makes everything else " "possible, is a very robust machine precisely because it is made of the " "simplest working parts." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The essence of copyright law, like other systems of property rules, is the " "power to exclude. The copyright holder is legally empowered to exclude all " "others from copying, distributing, and making derivative works." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This right to exclude implies an equally large power to license—that " "is, to grant permission to do what would otherwise be forbidden. Licenses " "are not contracts: the work's user is obliged to remain within the bounds of " "the license not because she voluntarily promised, but because she doesn't " "have any right to act at all except as the license permits." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But most proprietary software companies want more power than copyright alone " "gives them. These companies say their software is “licensed” to " "consumers, but the license contains obligations that copyright law knows " "nothing about. Software you're not allowed to understand, for example, " "often requires you to agree not to decompile it. Copyright law doesn't " "prohibit decompilation, the prohibition is just a contract term you agree to " "as a condition of getting the software when you buy the product under shrink " "wrap in a store, or accept a “clickwrap license” on line. " "Copyright is just leverage for taking even more away from users." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The GPL, on the other hand, subtracts from copyright rather than adding to " "it. The license doesn't have to be complicated, because we try to control " "users as little as possible. Copyright grants publishers power to forbid " "users to exercise rights to copy, modify, and distribute that we believe all " "users should have; the GPL thus relaxes almost all the restrictions of the " "copyright system. The only thing we absolutely require is that anyone " "distributing GPL'd works or works made from GPL'd works distribute in turn " "under GPL. That condition is a very minor restriction, from the copyright " "point of view. Much more restrictive licenses are routinely held " "enforceable: every license involved in every single copyright lawsuit is " "more restrictive than the GPL." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Because there's nothing complex or controversial about the license's " "substantive provisions, I have never even seen a serious argument that the " "GPL exceeds a licensor's powers. But it is sometimes said that the GPL " "can't be enforced because users haven't “accepted” it." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This claim is based on a misunderstanding. The license does not require " "anyone to accept it in order to acquire, install, use, inspect, or even " "experimentally modify GPL'd software. All of those activities are either " "forbidden or controlled by proprietary software firms, so they require you " "to accept a license, including contractual provisions outside the reach of " "copyright, before you can use their works. The free software movement " "thinks all those activities are rights, which all users ought to have; we " "don't even <em>want</em> to cover those activities by license. Almost " "everyone who uses GPL'd software from day to day needs no license, and " "accepts none. The GPL only obliges you if you distribute software made from " "GPL'd code, and only needs to be accepted when redistribution occurs. And " "because no one can ever redistribute without a license, we can safely " "presume that anyone redistributing GPL'd software intended to accept the " "GPL. After all, the GPL requires each copy of covered software to include " "the license text, so everyone is fully informed." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Despite the FUD, as a copyright license the GPL is absolutely solid. That's " "why I've been able to enforce it dozens of times over nearly ten years, " "without ever going to court." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Meanwhile, much murmuring has been going on in recent months to the supposed " "effect that the absence of judicial enforcement, in US or other courts, " "somehow demonstrates that there is something wrong with the GPL, that its " "unusual policy goal is implemented in a technically indefensible way, or " "that the Free Software Foundation, which authors the license, is afraid of " "testing it in court. Precisely the reverse is true. We do not find " "ourselves taking the GPL to court because no one has yet been willing to " "risk contesting it with us there." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "So what happens when the GPL is violated? With software for which the Free " "Software Foundation holds the copyright (either because we wrote the " "programs in the first place, or because free software authors have assigned " "us the copyright, in order to take advantage of our expertise in protecting " "their software's freedom), <a href=\"/licenses/gpl-violation.html\">the " "first step is a report</a>, usually received by email to <a " "href=\"mailto:license-violation@gnu.org\"><license-violation@gnu.org></a>. " "<a href=\"/licenses/gpl-violation.html\">We ask the reporters of violations " "to help us establish necessary facts</a>, and then we conduct whatever " "further investigation is required." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We reach this stage dozens of times a year. A quiet initial contact is " "usually sufficient to resolve the problem. Parties thought they were " "complying with GPL, and are pleased to follow advice on the correction of an " "error. Sometimes, however, we believe that confidence-building measures " "will be required, because the scale of the violation or its persistence in " "time makes mere voluntary compliance insufficient. In such situations we " "work with organizations to establish GPL-compliance programs within their " "enterprises, led by senior managers who report to us, and directly to their " "enterprises' managing boards, regularly. In particularly complex cases, we " "have sometimes insisted upon measures that would make subsequent judicial " "enforcement simple and rapid in the event of future violation." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In approximately a decade of enforcing the GPL, I have never insisted on " "payment of damages to the Foundation for violation of the license, and I " "have rarely required public admission of wrongdoing. Our position has " "always been that compliance with the license, and security for future good " "behavior, are the most important goals. We have done everything to make it " "easy for violators to comply, and we have offered oblivion with respect to " "past faults." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In the early years of the free software movement, this was probably the only " "strategy available. Expensive and burdensome litigation might have " "destroyed the FSF, or at least prevented it from doing what we knew was " "necessary to make the free software movement the permanent force in " "reshaping the software industry that it has now become. Over time, however, " "we persisted in our approach to license enforcement not because we had to, " "but because it worked. An entire industry grew up around free software, all " "of whose participants understood the overwhelming importance of the " "GPL—no one wanted to be seen as the villain who stole free software, " "and no one wanted to be the customer, business partner, or even employee of " "such a bad actor. Faced with a choice between compliance without publicity " "or a campaign of bad publicity and a litigation battle they could not win, " "violators chose not to play it the hard way." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We have even, once or twice, faced enterprises which, under US copyright " "law, were engaged in deliberate, criminal copyright infringement: taking the " "source code of GPL'd software, recompiling it with an attempt to conceal its " "origin, and offering it for sale as a proprietary product. I have assisted " "free software developers other than the FSF to deal with such problems, " "which we have resolved—since the criminal infringer would not " "voluntarily desist and, in the cases I have in mind, legal technicalities " "prevented actual criminal prosecution of the violators—by talking to " "redistributors and potential customers. “Why would you want to pay " "serious money,” we have asked, “for software that infringes our " "license and will bog you down in complex legal problems, when you can have " "the real thing for free?” Customers have never failed to see the " "pertinence of the question. The stealing of free software is one place " "where, indeed, crime doesn't pay." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "But perhaps we have succeeded too well. If I had used the courts to enforce " "the GPL years ago, Microsoft's whispering would now be falling on deaf " "ears. Just this month I have been working on a couple of moderately sticky " "situations. “Look,” I say, “at how many people all over " "the world are pressuring me to enforce the GPL in court, just to prove I " "can. I really need to make an example of someone. Would you like to " "volunteer?”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Someday someone will. But that someone's customers are going to go " "elsewhere, talented technologists who don't want their own reputations " "associated with such an enterprise will quit, and bad publicity will smother " "them. And that's all before we even walk into court. The first person who " "tries it will certainly wish he hadn't. Our way of doing law has been as " "unusual as our way of doing software, but that's just the point. Free " "software matters because it turns out that the different way is the right " "way after all." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "[*] Eben Moglen is professor of law and legal history at Columbia University " "Law School. He serves without fee as General Counsel of the Free Software " "Foundation." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2001 Eben Moglen" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any " "medium, provided this notice is preserved." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""