Update to GCC copyright assignment policy

[Giacomo Tesio]

On June 7, 2021 3:45:49 PM UTC, Jason Merrill wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 7, 2021 at 11:23 AM Giacomo Tesio <giacomo@tesio.it>
> wrote:
> 
> > > So, a few extra copyright holders under DCO instead of assignment
> > > to FSF will not really change anything significant.
> >
> > I'm afraid you are being a bit naive here.
> >
> > You just need one individual who decide to act as "copyright troll"
> years
> > after his contribution has been accepted (things and people change,
> > as you know) to cause demage to some users.
> 
> The copyright troll risk is much, much lower for GCC than for Linux.

In an ever changing world, this is very arguable.

Yet I think you will agree that with the previous policy such risk was absent.

Thus it's intruduction should be marked (and encapsulated) in a new major version.

> First, because GPL3 specifically addresses the over-strict automatic
> termination rules in GPL2 that copyright trolls leverage. 

GPLv3 allows for remediations within 60 since the violation notification, 
but it's unlikely to stop someone who want to monetize his own copyright suing a company:

- first because more often than not such cases are constructed, the company were NOT really violating the copyright
- second because 60 days to get a response from corporates lawyers is unrealistic in most of the world.

> And also because
> there are many fewer redistributors of GCC, and they are in the
> business of distributing software.  

And why GCC redistribution should be discouraged?

Why such business should be burden with this risk?

People still redistribute GCC with other free software for money where 
connectivity sucks or is overly expensive.

> If you are redistributing GCC, it's going to be in
> some sort of package format that is also a convenient medium for
> redistributing the source.  

So what?

We are talking about risk assessment not final court rulings.

In fact most of such cases do not reach a sentence and are settled out of court.


The Steering Committee can avoid all of this, now.
I cannot really understand why they shouldn't.


Giacomo