[Foundation-l] GFDL and relicensing

[Robert Rohde]

On Nov 21, 2007 2:41 PM, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 21/11/2007, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > You mean "the minority of contributors who believe their content
> > cannot be migrated in a way that is satisfactory to them *and find out
> > what we're doing*". I think you're mainly relying on people not
> > noticing, which doesn't seem very moral to me.
>
>
> They signed up for "or later." If they didn't mean that, they
> shouldn't have contributed. Really really.
>
> I don't know about other wikis, but on en:wp trying to repudiate your
> contributions or claim that they are declared not subject to the
> license you agree to contribute under each and every time you press
> "submit" tends to lead to a blocking to avoid further legal danger.
>
The GFDL also promises that any "new versions [of the GFDL] will be similar
in spirit to the present version".  If the future versions change in any
major way, that's a substantial clause by which to litigate under.  For
example, if the future GFDL changes when and how authors are acknowledged,
one could argue that such changes are not similar in spirit to the present
version.

-Robert Rohde