[vlc-devel] Re: Possible GPL violation

Wed Jan 19 04:45:14 CET 2005

Well before cinemaonweb.com went down, I was checking to see what 
country they originated from.  Assuming it's U.S., my personal 
suggestion would be to issue a 'cease and desist' order and try to bury 
this issue quietly.

Jason Luka

Antoine Cellerier wrote:

>As pointed out by Ricardo J. Sousa, the Cinema On Web video on demand
>service mentioned in the following slashdot article
>http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/18/1956223&tid=97 might be in
>violation with VLC's licence.
>
>A msi file (microsoft installer) can be found on this page :
>http://www.cinemaonweb.com/ww1/index.php?ab=cow-sw (first link in the
>middle of the page).
>
>This installs some files in the system32 directory (see screen shot here
>: http://people.via.ecp.fr/~jb/VLCthieves2.jpg)
>It seems to be a modified version of VLC 0.7.2
>
>That might have been ok if they were under the GPL license (or
>compatible) but here comes their licence :
>
>--------------Begin Licence-------------------------------
>
>CINEMA ON WEB. END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT 
>YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE
>USING THIS PRODUCT. IT CONTAINS SOFTWARE, THE USE OF WHICH IS LICENSED
>BY CINEMAONWEB., TO ITS CUSTOMERS FOR THEIR USE ONLY AS SET FORTH BELOW.
>IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO
>NOT USE THE SOFTWARE. USING ANY PART OF THE SOFTWARE INDICATES THAT YOU
>ACCEPT THESE TERMS. 
>GRANT OF LICENSE: Cinema on Web. (the "Licensor") grants to you this
>personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-assignable
>license solely to use in a single copy of the Licensed Works on a single
>computer for use by a single concurrent user only, and solely provided
>that you adhere to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
>The foregoing is an express limited use license and not an assignment,
>sale, or other transfer of the Licensed Works or any Intellectual
>Property Rights of Licensor. 
>ASSENT: By opening the file package containing this software, you agree
>that this Agreement is a legally binding and valid contract, agree to
>abide by the intellectual property laws and all of the terms and
>conditions of this Agreement, and further agree to take all necessary
>steps to ensure that the terms and conditions of this Agreement are not
>violated by any person or entity under your control or in your service. 
>OWNERSHIP OF SOFTWARE: The Licensor and/or its affiliates or
>subsidiaries own certain rights that may exist from time to time in this
>or any other jurisdiction, whether foreign or domestic, under patent
>law, copyright law, publicity rights law, moral rights law, trade secret
>law, trademark law, unfair competition law or other similar protections,
>regardless of whether or not such rights or protections are registered
>or perfected (the "Intellectual Property Rights"), in the computer
>software and hardware, together with any related documentation
>(including design, systems and user) and other materials for use in
>connection with such computer software in this package (collectively,
>the "Licensed Works"). ALL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN AND TO THE
>LICENSED WORKS ARE AND SHALL REMAIN IN LICENSOR. 
>VERSION CHECKING: This software will perform version checking. This does
>not involve sending information from your computer to us, but does
>involve the software contacting our servers to pull a list of available
>updates. 
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>will be sent to our servers. This installation ID will be used only to
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>in its entirety from application to this License Agreement. 
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>LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
>PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR THE WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT
>LIMITING THE FOREGOING, LICENSOR MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT (i) THE LICENSED
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>EXPECTATIONS, (v) ANY ERRORS IN THE LICENSED WORKS WILL BE CORRECTED,
>AND/OR (vi) YOU MAY USE, PRACTICE, EXECUTE, OR ACCESS THE LICENSED WORKS
>WITHOUT VIOLATING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF OTHERS. SOME
>STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES
>OR LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY MAY LAST, SO THE ABOVE
>LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IF CALIFORNIA LAW IS NOT HELD TO APPLY
>TO THIS AGREEMENT FOR ANY REASON, THEN IN JURISDICTIONS WHERE
>WARRANTIES, GUARANTEES, REPRESENTATIONS, AND/OR CONDITIONS OF ANY TYPE
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>LICENSED WORKS OR (B) THE SHORTEST PERIOD ALLOWED BY LAW IN THE
>APPLICABLE JURISDICTION IF A THIRTY (30) DAY LIMITATION WOULD BE
>UNENFORCEABLE; AND (2) LICENSOR'S SOLE LIABILITY FOR ANY BREACH OF ANY
>SUCH WARRANTY, GUARANTEE, REPRESENTATION, AND/OR CONDITION SHALL BE TO
>PROVIDE YOU WITH A NEW COPY OF THE LICENSED WORKS. 
>IN NO EVENT SHALL LICENSOR OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY
>THIRD PARTY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL
>DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
>LIMITATION, THOSE RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER
>OR NOT LICENSOR HAD BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND
>ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE
>OF THE LICENSED WORKS. SOME JURISDICTIONS PROHIBIT THE EXCLUSION OR
>LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, SO THE
>ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY
>NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY. 
>SEVERABILITY: In the event any provision of this License Agreement is
>found to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality
>and enforceability of any of the remaining provisions shall not in any
>way be affected or impaired and a valid, legal and enforceable provision
>of similar intent and economic impact shall be substituted therefor. 
>ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This License Agreement sets forth the entire
>understanding and agreement between you and Cinema on Web, supersedes
>all prior agreements, whether written or oral, with respect to the
>Software, and may be amended only in a writing signed by both parties. 
>Cinema on Web
>36-01,36th Avenue 
>L.I City 
>New York
>NY 11106
>USA 
>
>--------------------------End License----------------------------
>
>I thus consider that this software 'might' in violation to the GPL
>licence. 
>
>  
>

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