Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:24:32 -0500 From: Bill Moran <wmoran@potentialtech.com> To: linimon@lonesome.com (Mark Linimon) Cc: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Ion3 removal (Re: Ion3 license violation) Message-ID: <20071213112432.239eb2a8.wmoran@potentialtech.com> In-Reply-To: <20071213152140.GA29428@soaustin.net> References: <20071212183542.f9bf5e55.wmoran@potentialtech.com> <200712121930.46708.mi%2Bmill@aldan.algebra.com> <20071213021217.GA3535@soaustin.net> <slrnfm1ol8.mqu.tuomov@jolt.modeemi.cs.tut.fi> <20071213080139.GA14110@soaustin.net> <slrnfm1rce.so4.tuomov@jolt.modeemi.cs.tut.fi> <20071213090833.GA15789@soaustin.net> <slrnfm21lc.7a5.tuomov@jolt.modeemi.cs.tut.fi> <20071213090059.d5d6b6e7.wmoran@potentialtech.com> <slrnfm2h7r.23v.tuomov@jolt.modeemi.cs.tut.fi> <20071213152140.GA29428@soaustin.net>
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In response to linimon@lonesome.com (Mark Linimon): > On Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 02:43:07PM +0000, Tuomo Valkonen wrote: > > And at least where I come from, contracts are legally enforceable, > > even if they're only oral ones > > You clearly don't come from the US, where oral contracts are not > germane in business law. What's written down in the license is the > only thing that would be germane in court. > > Again, I'm not a lawyer, but this was my clear understanding from > the courses I took. As a side note ... when I owned part of a business we had to got to court with a few clients over gross misunderstandings. As a result, I had a lawyer tell me exactly what you said: That verbal agreements _are_ legally binding, but almost never enforceable. As a result, they're not really germane to business law. At one point, a judge took me aside an told me to start making my clients sign agreements before doing any work, otherwise I was going to end up in serious trouble at some point. It's the reason why, in the US, agreeing to anything over the phone is a bad idea. Ever have a pushy salesman on the phone try to get you to agree to something _right_away_! They reason they do that is it's pretty much impossible to make them liable for misrepresentation or anything like that if you don't have it in writing. They can basically lie through their teeth and promise you the world without delivering, and it's damn near impossible to take legal action against them if it was all verbal. Of course, I am not a lawyer either, so you should consult with one before entering into any important agreement. -- Bill Moran http://www.potentialtech.com
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