5 ms·

What if they're in a different jurisdiction?

• AnthonyMouse 2y ago
  How does that apply when you're releasing the source code in the jurisdiction where the law requires it? If they sue you there, the law there says they lose. If you're also in the other jurisdiction your subsidiary there doesn't have to release it so they don't. This is like, what happens when a work is in the public domain in one jurisdiction but not another? The answer is different things happen in different places. Also, obviously companies would then just not license software under terms that would cause legal trouble for them.
  • thfuran 2y ago
    >How does that apply when you're releasing the source code in the jurisdiction where the law requires it? That would depend on what exactly the requirement is and what exactly the third-party code is and is used for. Without the specifics, I'd say it seems plausible that the third party itself is not subject to the requirement but the firmware using the third-party code may be subject for both first- and third-party code.
    • AnthonyMouse 2y ago
      But then why is that a problem? The entity in the jurisdiction releases the code for the device they sell in the jurisdiction, whether they wrote it or licensed it, and doesn't license it under terms inconsistent with their legal obligation.
• stonemetal12 2y ago
  Either they follow the law or it is illegal to sell in the covered jurisdiction. There are already US laws that work in that way. Consider DDT, if fruit was grown with DDT you can't sell it in the US. It doesn't matter that DDT is legal in the grower's country.
  • thfuran 2y ago
    Taken as given the statement in the parent that "there's no moral principle by which it would be right to expose and open-source their code.", then that sort of transitive requirement ought not be imposed. Though I don't agree with that statement.