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Date: Sat, 8 Oct 2011 14:29:08 -0400
Thread-Topic: [PHP-DEV] Re: Time zone database shut down by legal threat
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Subject: RE: [PHP-DEV] Re: Time zone database shut down by legal threat
From: johncrenshaw@priacta.com (John Crenshaw)

> From: Lester Caine [mailto:lester@lsces.co.uk]=20
> Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 8:15 AM
> Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Re: Time zone database shut down by legal threat
>=20
> Pierre Joye wrote:
> > See the blog post itself for more information. They create a mailing
> > list to create an alternative database but not to argue about the
> > legal case. I would suggest to discuss things there instead.
>=20
> I had no doubt that the data would continue to exist, and it has been con=
firmed=20
> that it will be updated on the Australian site. The remaining question is=
 "Is=20
> there any problem using that data to update the PHP version?" Since there=
 are=20
> apparently already a number of corrections in the pipeline ... ;)
>=20
> --=20
> Lester Caine - G8HFL

IANAL but yes, if the copyright claim is determined to be valid I'm sure th=
ey could go after anyone else that continues to reproduce it (using the Ols=
en database or a derivative in a software product like PHP or Linux would c=
ertainly apply.) If for some reason this holds up in court, I would not be =
at all surprised to see them go after a larger (more lucrative) target next=
.

Also, as far as I understand willful copyright violation (you knew about th=
e copyright claim and reproduced the work anyway) is a much more expensive =
mistake than something less deliberate. The safest thing for PHP is probabl=
y to immediately stop bundling the Olsen database or derivatives until this=
 issue is sorted. Since that isn't really possible or practical, I think a =
next best option would be to (at least for now) remove the portion of the d=
ata that is in dispute (as far as I understand this is just historical pre-=
1991 US TZ data?).

I'm not sure what impact this has on distribution of current and/or previou=
s versions of PHP but I worry that it isn't pretty.

Obviously the issue is big enough that legal counsel should be involved if =
possible.

John Crenshaw
Priacta, Inc.