WASTE and the GPL, plus a patch for the code

[rlk at alum.mit.edu (Robert L Krawitz)]

   From: "Warren E. Agin" <wea at swiggartagin.com>
   Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2003 08:40:03 -0400

   Keep in mind that a license contract is an agreement between two
   parties.  As the lawyer in the group, I doubt AOL can revoke an
   accepted GPL license.  However, if a person accepting the license
   at the click-through stage has knowledge that Nullsoft lacked
   actual authority to enter into a GPL license, then that person may
   have a problem relying on the GPL license to justify his use of the
   product. He would be liable for copyright infringement.

The GPL is not a contract.  It's a conditional grant of additional
rights that would otherwise not be granted under copyright (so states
the FSF).  As it notes, you're not required to accept the GPL, but in
that case you only have the normal rights that come with copyright --
in particular, no right to distribute.