Software licenses and releasing Python programs for review

[Robert Kern]

Mike Meyer wrote:
> Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com> writes:
> 
>>But this would only be a restriction if the code were to be
>>redistributed, of course. It's stil perfectly legal to use it
>>internaly without making the modified source available.
> 
> I've heard people argue otherwise on this case. In particular, if you
> allow an employee to use your GPL'ed-but-not-distributed software,
> they are the end user, and have all the rights granted by the GPL. So
> they can distribute the software - possibly to your
> competitors. Employment contracts can't prohibit this, because the GPL
> specifically disallows "distribution" (allowing your employee to use
> the software) under licenses that restrict the rights granted by the
> GPL.
> 
> I don't know whether this would hold water in court. I'd certainly
> hate to be the one responsible for a company finding out the hard way.

Well, the FSF at least thinks that internal use within an organization 
does not constitute distribution.

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic

"""Does the GPL require that source code of modified versions be posted 
to the public?

     The GPL does not require you to release your modified version. You 
are free to make modifications and use them privately, without ever 
releasing them. This applies to organizations (including companies), 
too; an organization can make a modified version and use it internally 
without ever releasing it outside the organization.

     But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, 
the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the 
program's users, under the GPL.

     Thus, the GPL gives permission to release the modified program in 
certain ways, and not in other ways; but the decision of whether to 
release it is up to you."""

-- 
Robert Kern
rkern at ucsd.edu

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
  Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
   -- Richard Harter