[ros-kernel] RE: [ros-cvs] CVS Update: reactos

[Vizzini]

On Sat, 2004-06-26 at 10:24, Vizzini wrote:
> On Fri, 2004-06-25 at 17:15, Hartmut Birr wrote:
> > the first paragraph of each M$ EULA says what you can do with the software. 
> > ...
> > 1. GRANT OF LICENSE.  This EULA grants you the following rights:
> . a. SOFTWARE PRODUCT. You may install and use an unlimited number of
> copies of the SOFTWARE PRODUCT on computers, including workstations,
> terminals or other digital electronic devices ("COMPUTERS") to design,
> develop and test drivers for use with Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows
> 98, Windows 98, Second Edition, and Windows Millennium Edition operating
> systems ("Drivers").
> -----------
> 
> This is a grey area, at best.  For example, you're certainly allowed to
> *read* the documentation, even if you never write a driver.  This is
> really a question of fair use, which, God help me, is *not* dead.  
> 
> I read the EULA to mean that you cannot link MS object code (libs) or
> directly use (i.e. #include in a source file) MS headers in the kits for
> drivers/etc for non-MS products.  The *documentation* (and header files
> can indeed be read as documentation!) cannot be restricted in this way. 
> It doesn't make sense, legally, to say "You cannot use this information
> to develop drivers for a particular operating system", perhaps outside
> the scope of an NDA.  IANAL, so I'll see if I can get this validated.

FWIW, I spoke to a friend of mine, who as the lead attourney where I
work, and he agreed with that analysis.

 -Vizzini