On 5/11/07, Dmitry Butskoy <buc@odusz.so-cdu.ru> wrote:

The using of software in business and production environment can be a
subject for legislative regulation. It can lead to some legal troubles
of using of distributions like Fedora.

Recently the appropriate laws in my country (Russia) have been
significantly toughened. Now the police can check for illegal software
usage by their own initiative (without request from the owner). The tax
inspection demands that software should be registered at accounts
departments.

During such a checking, the user is obliged now to show all hardcopy
license documents (with original signatures and stamps). But there are
no any such things for distros like Fedora, which have been just
downloaded from Internet, hence the user shows nothing. In this
situation the police *must* temporarily confiscate system blocks (up to
2 weeks) for further checking...
Certainly, after the checking period all hardware comes back, but such
troubles are not allowed for normal business.

Are there any similar troubles in other countries?

How it can be avoided?

Our local linux distributors recommend to not download from Internet,
but buy their box, which includes CDs accompanied with some license
facsimile paper (just to show polices at least "something").

Dmitry Butskoy,
Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Red Hat Certified Engineer 809003662809495
http://www.fedoraproject.org/wiki/DmitryButskoy

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