Michael Glassford wrote:
What could we do to avoid even worse problems if that ever happens? Would it make sense to have people add their names to a blanket permissions file (or add explicit permission in their submissions) that would allow the copyright for their submissions to be updated under certain circumstances in the event that they could not be contacted for permission? What legal issues would be involved in such a case?
The strategy that the FSF uses is to require a formal copyright assignment for all non-trivial contributions. That puts them into a very good legal position, as they are able to license anything in any manner they like; apparently complete ownership also acts as a significant protection against claims of inappropriately-contributed code, and gives FSF a significant procedural advantage were there ever to be a dispute. The downside is that going through the copyright assignment process is a real pain. While it really isn't that big of a deal, it is a significant barrier to potiential contributors. There also has to be some financial backing for this sort of thing, and I don't know if Boost Consulting, or anyone else, has the resources for this. Aaron W. LaFramboise