# Re: Non Disclosure Agreements

Hugo van der Kooij (hvdkooij@caiw.nl)
Thu, 21 May 1998 22:14:23 +0200 (MET DST)

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On Thu, 21 May 1998, Dave Restall - System Administrator wrote:

> I'm trying to write the bits for a Scanace II from PIE and I wrote to
> them a while ago for technical details. After a month, nothing had come
> back so I recopied my letter and asked for an acknowledgement. I got :-
>
> 1) An acknowledgement.
> 2) A promise to do something.
> 3) A word document entitled "PIE's Scanner engine ScanAce series SCSI
> Technical Reference Manual"
>
> Yesterday 2) turned into a "We've got the data but before we release it
> could you sign this NDA" email. Consequently I have a lot of
> questions.
>
> The technical documentation came from a different source within the
> company (I sent my letter to two separate support addresses). My
> questions are :-
>
> 1) If I get the NDA and don't agree with it, I don't sign it, what is
> the position regarding the technical documentation ?

NDA's and GPL don't work together.

However it depends on the scope of the NDA. If it restricted to the
published source code then it may be that the actual system interface
information can still be gathered without violating the NDA. This is
however a complex matter.

> 3) If there is a heavy ND clause, does Sane need to have the source
> code.

Yes. In that case we better start declaring the manufacturer as GPL
incorrect and tell them all we bought other hardware because of their NDA.
In past times this has been a major role in the decision for Matrox and
Diamond to stop the NDA and provide accurate information about the
hardware.

Hugo.

+------------------------+------------------------------+
| Hugo van der Kooij | Hugo.van.der.Kooij@caiw.nl |
| Oranje Nassaustraat 16 | http://www.caiw.nl/~hvdkooij |
| 3155 VJ Maasland | (De man met de rode hoed) |
+------------------------+------------------------------+
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(Mitch Radcliffe)

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