video cards

[Bradley Hook]

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Jeffrey Watts wrote:
| On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 3:29 PM, Luke -Jr <luke at dashjr.org> wrote:
|>  Copyright exists only as being a law.
|
| You like to wordsmith your positions posthumously so as to appear right.
|
| I understand that a law is the foundation of copyright in this country
| (hence "copyright law").  But then again, it is for almost anything.
| I was commenting that your choice of words was imprecise and only
| served to sensationalize your arguments.
|
| This is a technical forum, precision is very important.
|
|>  Whether civil or criminal is irrelevant: it is still in violation of
the law.
|
| No sir, that is very incorrect.  Criminal infringement requires the
| government to act on behalf of an injured populace.  In civil matters
| the injured parties must seek justice on their own.  This is a very
| important distinction (see my earlier point about precision).

*IF* it were a violation of law, it would not matter if the offense were
civil or criminal, it would still be "illegal." Due process is required
of the government in both cases.

| There are no injured parties in this circumstance (as the principal
| author has said it's fine), and thus this distinction is critical.
| You may feel that it is "illegal" - which in itself is a rather
| sensational term to choose, I would choose "infringes" - but you sir
| are not an injured party as you do not hold the Linux copyright.
| Furthermore, I believe that it is obvious that you are not a lawyer
| and are in general ignorant of the legal system and thus you are, to
| use a rather vulgar phrase, "talking out of your ass".

As you point out, the legality of copyright actions is based on
permission of the author, and since the author has given implied
permission, the act becomes legal. If the author had not given
permission, but also had not filed charges, the act would still be
"illegal" because it violates law (by infringing on copyright).

|>  Both of your examples are migrating from non-free to free. This
situation is
|>  the exact opposite: free toward non-free.
|
| No sir.  If I recall correctly, before the nVidia driver nVidia cards
| did not fully work under Linux.  I believe it had basic VESA support,
| but nothing more.  You might argue that that is "working", I'd
| disagree as people do not buy nVidia cards to use 1990s standards.
| This is clearly a situation where one might expect an eventual Free
| driver to resolve the current necessity of using a non-Free driver.
|
| However, now that I've answered your rebuttal could you please address
| my larger point that you danced around?
|
| Jeffrey.
|
| P.S.  Please excuse my double-response Luke, I keep forgetting that
| this mailing list doesn't have Reply-To: set.
|

- --
~Bradley Hook
Education Systems Administrator
Kansas State School for the Blind
1100 State Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66102
Voice: (913) 281-3308 ext. 363
Mobile: (913) 645-9958
Facsimile: (913) 281-3104
http://www.kssb.net

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