Umm, this is interesting..

[Arnoud Engelfriet]

setuid wrote:
> Well, first and foremost, he can't. Once the software is released under
> the GPL, it cannot be revoked. He can TRY to claim that, but it won't
> hold up under copyright law. 

I don't see why not. He cannot revoke the license he granted to
people that are already using the work, but he can stop granting new
licenses to new people.

If I grant people licenses to walk on my land, I can revoke that license
and put a big fence with barbed wire up. 

> It may be that he's trying to protect anyone that uses it, because he
> himself may have put code he wasn't allowed to use, into a project which
> he then GPL'd to the public.

That could very well be the case, and personally I would recommend
that anyone using or distributing this code switches to something else.

> But he is responsible for the copyright violation, if any such violation
> exists, not third-parties who happen to use that same codebase. 

The disclaimer in the GPL says that you can't sue him for damages
if the copyright holder sues you for infringement. And the copyright
holder can choose who to sue: original distributor or later
(re)distributors.

Arnoud

-- 
Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch & European patent attorney - Speaking only for myself
Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/
              Arnoud blogt nu ook: http://blog.iusmentis.com/