[Kde-accessibility] SSML and the GPL

[Paul Giannaros]

It boils down to the fact that it may not be GPL compatible and, as
Gary is concerned, not allow it to be included as a debian package. I
too think it seems to be ok to continue, but I'll wait for more
information first.


On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 21:02:53 +0200, Kenneth Wimer <wimer at suse.de> wrote:
> * Gary Cramblitt <garycramblitt at comcast.net> [Oct 30. 2004 19:27]:
> > On Saturday 30 October 2004 12:42 pm, Kenneth Wimer wrote:
> > > > There is an article by Jonathan Eisenzopf here
> > > >
> > > >   http://www.developer.com/voice/print.php/1565321
> > > >
> > > > which seems to imply there are some licensing encumberances regarding
> > > > VoiceXML.  It isn't clear to me whether these encumberances apply to SSML
> > > > or not.  If they do, it could be a violation of the GPL (and Debian
> > > > policy) to use SSML in KTTSD.
> > >
> > > I am not an expert either, but if you read the whole page (the second
> > > one) you will find the fiollowing sentence in BOLD print
> > >
> > > "As a result, there are no known impediments to Royalty Free
> > > implementations of the W3C Speech Interface Framework specifications."
> >
> > I've looked at the W3C RF License and I can't make heads or tails of it.  If
> > an entity wishes to sell a commercial product using KTTSD, but under the GPL,
> > do they have to seek licensing terms from SSML patent holders or not?
> 
> Well, if you read all the related information (good post!) you will see
> that all of the patent holders agreed to allow a free license of usage
> to basically anyone (although many of them would apperently like you to
> somehow contact them and tell them what you are doing). The only
> possible problem is the one patent holder who has not responded to this
> (Rutgers University) but it appears that they don't have a problem with
> it if they do not respond. In any case, they are a unviersity, so if
> they know that we are not making money on this stuff, I doubt that they
> will care. Unless of course they have some secret plans to create the
> super-mega-accesability-program which they will then sell to the masses.
> 
> It appears taht at this time it is safe to continue working on this, but
> I am not a lawyer.
> 
> 
> 
> Bye,
> Kenneth
> 
> --
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