it is common to seal confidential
information regarding
competitive business practices in
civil litigation. This is
unsurprising.
Of course it is. Of course companies like
HTC, who have
nothing to do with Apple vs Samsung, should have a right to
protect their interests. However, PJ pointed out a very
unusual concern, maybe
never before considered. Who would
have thunk it? Just when we all might think
HTC's agreement
with Apple has every right to be protected, PJ interjects
with
a valid, public concern. Not only a concern in the HTC
question here, but in
general. Pj asks, "Suppose these
patent deals are illegal under the
GPL?
Wow - what a question! Now, maybe for the first time, we
are
confronted with this. Where we maybe thought before
these corporations have
every right to privacy in these
agreements, suddenly this question - maybe
the
public has a right to an answer?
I don't know if they do or if they
don't, but PJ has
raised an interesting question. Suppose others have "secret
deals" like HTC & Apple. And just suppose those deals
compromise the
sanctity of the GPL? Maybe even innocently,
like it never occurred to these
companies? We all needs to
consider this, especially the parties involved in
these
agreements. For sure these companies making these agreements
don't want
to end up on the wrong side of the law.
By simply raising this issue, PJ
had renedered a service
to all parties. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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