Re: License questions

On Tue, 19 Aug 2003 19:05:34 +0100, Peter Fairbrother <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
wrote:
> 
> But the BSD license has a neat twist - it allows the licensee to
> redistribute. If the author stops releasing copies/licenses, anyone who
> already has a license can still redistribute the code. The author can't
> revoke that license. That's all a re-user needs.

Yes.  Similarly, anyone who had already received public domain code could
continue to distribute even under estopel only.  But with respect to
a third party who receives BSD code after becoming aware of the author's 
attempt to revoke permission to distribute; can that third party still
redistribute?  

> In an even neater twist, the way the license works also means that the owner
> of any lawfully obtained copy, whether obtained directly from the author or
> indirectly through a third party, is also able to redistribute the code.

Why can't the license be revoked with respect to third parties who have
yet to receive the code?  They aren't in privity of contract with the
author, so the author is not bound by the license with respect to those
parties.  

Isaac