Provisions against digital rights management in a draft update to the General Public Licence could undermine computer security, Linus Torvalds said this week in e-mails reflecting the Linux leader's pragmatic philosophy.
New licensing terms for Linux and other open-source products take a "highly aggressive" stance against the digital rights management software that's widely favoured in the entertainment industry, said Eben Moglen, general counsel for the Free Software Foundation.
Linus Torvalds said that he won't convert Linux to version 3 of the General Public License, as he objects to digital rights management provisions in the proposed update.
The Free Software Foundation on Monday released the first public discussion draft of the General Public Licence version 3, shedding light on proposed reforms to the document's patent and digital rights management provisions.
The right to remove digital rights management controls and patent protection for free and open-source software users is an important provision in the General Public License version 3, said the Free Software Foundation.
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