--- Geoff Burling llywrch@agora.rdrop.com wrote:
And what do we do if a minor makes a submission? After all, while minors can sign contracts, but cannot be held to them. And we do have several minors who are making contributions to Wikipedia. (For example LittleDan, who I wouldn't have thought was that young had he not stated the fact.)
This has been something that has nagged me ever since I learned that the FSF does check for this of every contributor to their code base. If someone under 18 wants to contribute, they have to get their parents or guardians to agree to the FSF's terms. (This is done to provide the necessary documentation to prevent a SCO v. IBM lawsuit.)
Geoff
Even if that's technically true, do you think someone would go to court to get permission to use a minor's contributions to wikipedia (and remember, only the changes, not the full article) without the GNU FDL license? Or do you mean that the child will change his mind and say that he doesn't give permission to use it under the FDL? I really am not worried about it. Not to mention that if a child is anonymous, as many wikipedians are as far as age, how can they prove that he can't be held to the contract?
And are you implying that, if I press "I agree" on a click-through license on software, then I don't have to follow it?
Keep in mind that, up to this SCO v. IBM lawsuit (a rare exception), no GNU license has ever been brought to court. And when it comes to the FDL, I think it is even less likely to be challenged since the competition for literature is not as fierce as in software. LDan
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