On Jun 14, 2008, Les Mikesell <lesmikesell(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Alexandre Oliva wrote:
> They didn't choose to distribute that particular content, so
no,
> they're just carriers, like the air through which the bullet flies on
> the way to its target.
How would this be different on a moderated list?
That would depend on the role of the moderators. If it's merely to
ensure that postings don't deviate from the rules of the list, then I
suppose they would still be regarded as carriers. If approval means
endorsement to the statements in the message, then they might become
co-responsible.
Look through the changelogs of some software packages to see how
many flaws past versions have contained. Do you hold the
distributors responsible for all those problems?
Again, it depends (heck, I'm talking more and more like a lawyer, even
though I'm not one :-)
For example, per Brazilian consumer protection law, if I purchase
something as a consumer, I'm entitled to warranty. No ifs or buts.
Regardless of whatever my relationship with the copyright holders of
the Free Software in the product I purchased is (I got a copyright
license from them that states there's no warranty), the vendor who
performed the distribution to me is responsible for providing me with
warranty.
--
Alexandre Oliva
http://www.lsd.ic.unicamp.br/~oliva/
Free Software Evangelist oliva(a){lsd.ic.unicamp.br, gnu.org}
FSFLA Board Member ¡Sé Libre! =>
http://www.fsfla.org/
Red Hat Compiler Engineer aoliva(a){redhat.com, gcc.gnu.org}