[LEDE-DEV] [PATCH] bcm53xx: calculate TRX CRC32 using whole kernel partition

[Bjørn Mork]

Rafał Miłecki <zajec5 at gmail.com> writes:

> -# Copyright (C) 2007 OpenWrt.org
> +# Copyright (C) 2016 LEDE project

I've always wondered about the OpenWrt copyright assigment process, and
this looks like a perfect opportunity to clear that up.  Why do you
assign the copyright to the project?  What are the formalities involved
here?  Is there any paperwork?  What legal entity is this "OpenWrt.org"
or "LEDE project" now owning the copyright?  How do you ensure that they
use the code only like you intended after you donated it?

I am used to open source projects like the Linux kernel, where every
author keeps their copyright.  Or projects like those managed by the FSF
where you do hand over the copyright to them, by actually signing papers
and mailing them in.  Both methods have pretty clear legal implications.

But OpenWrt.org has always been this odd one, where everyone just writes
"Copyright (C) .... OpenWrt.org" seemingly without any thought about how
that works.  And the LEDE project does the same?

What I'd personally hate, was if some bad guys got control over one of
these organisations/projects and suddenly owned the copyright of all the
work donated to them over the years.  The bad guys could then legally
relicense all the code under whatever license they wanted.  Isn't that
unnecessarily risky?  IMHO the kernel model is nice for GPL'd code,
since it pretty much prevents any relicensing at all.

I think maybe a FAQ entry regarding copyright assignment would be
nice. I am very confused by this.  And a bit scared.  But maybe I'm
alone there?


Bjørn