[nycoem]

Interesting. What a joke. I'm sorry you can stop one terroist..ooops..that would be a military use... so sorry about that.

[ShadowAce]

[KoRn]

What a joke.

[zeugma]

I went to the project's sourceforge page to check it out. There is a thread on the page titled "Discussion about modified GPL"

Here's the text of that article:

What started like a little taunt suddenly got another dimension. The GPU project has modified the GPL license a little by adding Asimov's first law of robotics. 
 
Meanwhile, we have been written be members of the Free Software Foundation, asking us to reconsider the change or at least not violate their copyright by removing the preamble and altering the name. We are aware modifying the GPL is not allowed by the GPL license itself, but did it without bad intentions. We go consider what is appropiate. After all, we're not after a legal conflict with the FSF. Give us some time for internal debate, we'll keep you informed.

 There is one reply to the article:

 1. The modification of the GPL was a bad thing and the FSF called you on it. 
2. Unless you reverse engineered the gnutella protocols your self, you've probably used a GPLed code base and by adding a restriction you have violated the GPL as I understand it and the GPL is the only reason you can use the code so you're probably commiting copyright infringement, a bad thing. 
3. Consideering things the Military has given back to the community such as the NSA donating, Perl and SELinux and the US Army donating GRASS the non-military clause is at the least a bit rude. 
 
perhaps a non-binding statement that the developers hope that the software will be not be used in offensive millitary applications or weapons developement would be a workable compromise.

 
It would appear that the FSF has slapped them down. There goes the "all open source advocates are looney lefties" argument. 

[HamiltonJay]

hahaha.. yea, that'll be enforceable.. hahahahahahaha


If the Military is using some Open Source Code for some super secret project, trust me, you won't know about it dimwit.

[Golden Eagle]

Typical open source leftists. If this somehow flies we can expect some of them from overseas to try to ban America completely.

[antiRepublicrat]

Here's the classic bit: The GPL itself is a copyrighted work, and these guys didn't receive permission to make a derivative work by modifying and redistributing it. The Free Software Foundation has asked them to quit doing this, but they still persist. These are the leftists with no respect for copyright that you always talk about. From them:

We are aware modifying the GPL is not allowed by the GPL license itself, but did it without bad intentions. We go consider what is appropiate. After all, we're not after a legal conflict with the FSF.

How about getting permission first? Duh! "Oh, we can use your copyrighted works however we want as long as the intention is good." Blast these guys all you want GE, I won't stand in your way.

[Lazamataz]

"the program and its derivative work will neither be modified or executed to harm any human being nor through inaction permit any human being to be harmed."

[ShadowAce]

"the program and its derivative work will neither be modified or executed to harm any human being nor through inaction permit any human being to be harmed."

OK--this is just stupid. Will they revoke this license for everyone now that someone has died in an un-related action? After all, this program allowed that to happen through its inaction to prevent it....

[kevkrom]

A few points:

1. Any developer may attach any license they deem fit to their own work. If they attach a homebrew modification to the GPL that says "no military use", "cannot run the software on Mondays", "users must wear purple socks", etc., they are fully within their rights to do so, subject to local anti-discrimination laws (i.e., a clause prohibiting use by a specifical race or religion would not be acceptable in most Western cultures).

2. However, with respect to #1 above, if the license terms are unrealistic, no one will use the program.

3. Most importantly, the authors may only apply the modified license to their own work. The work of others included in their product may not be redistributed with a different license without the authors' explicit permission. Any GPL-licensed software included in their package would still be subject to the original GPL, not the project's modified GPL.

[Pilsner]

Like our Dutch military: I can say it is bad because it kills people

Perhaps I'm about to get educated, but hasn't it been decades since the Dutch military, apart from the odd "SWAT" raid that the police would handle in this country, killed anyone?

On purpose I mean. Not like in The Naked Gun 2 1/2, where Lt. Drebin, on receiving an award for killing his 1,000th drug dealer, admits "Thank you. But, in all honesty, the last three I backed over with my car. Luckily, they turned out to be drug-dealers."

[avg_freeper]

They might as well include a "Please don't saw my head off Mr. Islamic nutball man".

Good luck with that.

[gura]

+1 digg

[Modok]

Given the pacifist nature of the creaters, it shall henceforth be known as pussyware.

[ChildOfThe60s]

These people are so dumb it is embarassing. Would they have stood there with peace signs while the Soviet Union's tanks rolled over them?

Sometimes I wonder at the "rightness" of brave people dying to keep people like this free. They are sheep, they want to be someone's slaves. Too bad we can't let them have their wish.

[LexBaird]

Both developers do agree about one aspect of their license clause. It is based on the first of science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's Three Law of Robotics, which states, "A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm."

It would be amusing if they got their butts sued off by the Asimov estate for copyright infringement.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

They may not be able to do that if they use third party software integral to their software.

They also may run afoul of the anti-discrimination laws.

[RightOnline]

Laughable........and pathetic at the same time. When will such people ever actually grow up?

Don't bother.........I know, I know.

[RinaseaofDs]

It's open source, but not for bad people.

This is why we keep our engineers in their own building where they won't scare anybody.

It's like the Island of Dr. Moreau over there.