Mastodawn

RE: https://hachyderm.io/@thomasfuchs/116377687987470957

When a company ends support for the last version of a given #software product compatible with any subset of the supported #hardware, or ends support for a given software product altogether, or ends support for a software-controlled hardware product, the warranty #disclaimer, limitation of #liability, indemnity, and related #EULA terms should be deemed without force or effect regarding any future harms resulting from software defects unless the company releases all information and legal permissions necessary for arbitrary independent parties to patch those defects and distribute and install those patches.

Either release the complete and corresponding source code (including any keys necessary to install or run a compiled version) with a license to make and distribute fixes, or fix your up stuff forever, or face unlimited liability for the consequences of your refusal to fix or allow fixing.

#law

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Karl Auerbach 2d ago

@deFractal Take a look at something I proposed multiple decades ago...

The Rule Against Digital Perpetuities:

No Digital Rights Management (DRM) limitation or anti-copying mechanism may endure longer than the original copyright in the protected work.

The Pledge:

I pledge to neither specify nor standardize nor implement any system that does not conform to the Rule Against Digital Perpetuities.

Sure, with the Supreme Court allowing copyright to exist almost forever, the effect of this might be minimal. But consider what DRM technology would be if it had to self-destruct when it was no longer wrapped around a work no longer covered by copyright?

And consider the value for librarians, archivists, and historians of the future if DRM mechanisms were required to self-destruct when the clock on the copyright runs out.

https://www.cavebear.com/old_cbblog/000272.html

CaveBear Blog: The Rule Against Digital Perpetuities - A Reprise

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David 1d ago

@karlauerbach That could be a complementary improvement.