promitheas

Very interesting doc! Its sad how this is the state of things, but something must be done. I hope with the news weve been receiving from Germany recently that this will change long term, and not just for the current government. Hopefully it will snowball and have a ripple effect on other EU countries.

As far as I remember it was so that they couldn’t use it to create their own paid version. I think the dev wanted it to be free, but found this loophole. If I find the video I’ll edit this comment and link it

Edit: i was partially wrong above. Its not for the reason I thought it was, but rather as a business strategy. Individual users keep it relevant so theyre allowed to keep it for free, while businesses have to pay for the license to avoid being sued. Businesses are its main source of revenue. Here is a video explaining it. Its not the video I remember watching, but it seems to be correct.

Correct me if im wrong, but I think I read/watched something a few years ago which basically explains why winrar has a free trial but never actually enforces it. It had something to do with copyright law details, and how making it a paid product extends the copyright protections on it so that corporations cant legally use the code for a longer time. Im not sure if I’m even remembering it correctly, because it was several years ago

To add to your analogy if i may, the firewall is kind of like a security guard or doorman at the building entrance. All mail has to go through him first and if something is addressed to a closed flat (port) he simply doesnt let it get delivered.