30 Aug
2004
30 Aug
'04
11:02 p.m.
Steven Edwards wrote:
Stephen,
--- Stephen Hodges <theteofscuba(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
Like 'innocent until proven guilty'(?).
--
TomLeeM
BigWarpGuy - BigMiniGuy - BigDosGuy
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
eComStation
The OS For the Internet Generation
http://www.ecomstation.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you aren't sure if its legal or not you
probably are already aware
of the
shaky legal grounds, and you might as well assume it is illegal until
proven
otherwise.
I am not attempting to defraud anyone and I live in a country that is
based on the free market economy. I refuse to accept that ever action I
take could be illegal until it is shown to me otherwise. There is a
term in law called "Mens Rea" which translates to legal intent. I am
not willfully trying to break any known law and we believe that are
actions are 100% legal. If it is found later on that are actions are
illegal it is up to the legal system to prove that we had prior
knowledge and willfully broke the law. That does not mean that by not
knowing the law there is no punishment but it does mean in most cases
it is much less. Until such time as someone with a real legal ground
says otherwise then we can assume we are still operating within the
law.
Also note that I have discussed this with other lawyers and they seem
to agree that what we are doing should be legal even if it is not. If
that is the case then litigation may be the only course of action long
term. That does not mean we should stop working on ReactOS. It means we
need to keep working on it and change the law.
Thanks
Steven