"Tom Holden" wrote in message
.. .

I find it interesting that the very thing putting you at ease causes
alarm in myself. If I pay for something then by entering into contract
with another entity I gain certain rights. The exchange of money for
goods or service is defined. If I acquire something for free then there
is no contract and I have no acquired rights at all. All goods or
service is subject to change on the whim of the rights owner regardless
of the type of ownership be it copyright or patent when they feel like
it unless you can prove some special rights pertain to your use.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Acquiring something for no exchange of money does not mean there is no
contract. Each time you accept the terms and conditions when you install free
software, you have entered into a contract.

That maybe so, but if you ended up in a court of law you will find that the
contract is ultimately unenforceable without the exchange of monies . That's why
you'll find that agreements, no matter how trivial, have a stated nominal or
token figure, without that you cannot enforce terms like deliverables, duration
or liability, otherwise you just have a gentlemen's agreement.

Before you talked about patent holders withtaining rights and being to change
licensing terms at a whim, that's not the case, the whole point of a contract is
to set down specific terms. If you sign a contract licensing 1m DRM units at $1
a piece as fixed term then it's in black a white so they can't **** you about
and demand $2.00 in the future. If they initially said "you can use our codec
free of charge at our prerogative" and then 18 months down the line they want
$2.00 per unit then you have no claim against them.


Az.