Re: [Gcl-devel] Odd idea...

[jeff]

Quoting C Y <address@hidden>:

> P.S. - The above question actually raises another one - since in one
> sense it could be argued that any compliant ANSI Lisp distribution in
> effect is an instance of the spec, how can one be ANSI compliant and
> still open source, given the ANSI folks keep control over the spec
> documents and (AFAIK) prevent republishing them?  Is it only human
> readable versions of the spec that have trouble?  How "different" does
> some instance of the spec have to be to be in the clear?

If the protection on the spec is copyright, there shouldn't be
any problem for implementations.

  "Ideas, Methods, or Systems are not subject to copyright protection.
  Copyright protection, therefore, is not available for: ideas or
  procedures for doing, making, or building things; scientific or
  technical methods or discoveries; business operations or procedures;
  mathematical principles; formulas, algorithms; or any other concept,
  process, or method of operation.

  Section 102 of the copyright law, title 17, United States Code,
  clearly expresses this principle: “In no case does copyright
  protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea,
  procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept,
  principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which
  it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such
  work.”

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ31.html

I don't agree BTW that an implementation is an instance of the spec.

-- Jeff