Simple Public License, second draft

[Justin Wells]

Some substantial revisions to the SPL:

I have made some changes to the non-compete clause of the SPL that may 
make it more acceptable. The whole license is attached below, the 
relevant section now reads:

  Finally, you agree not to include any part of our software, or any
  part of a binary application based on our software, in a competing
  product, unless that competing product as a whole is considered
  to be a modified version of our software. A "competing product" is
  understood to mean software which has, at least in part, the same
  purpose as we stated for our software in its definition.

In addition to that, the requirements for a "modified version" now 
include some copylefting notions:

    a) Your modified version of our software will not be less free,
       meaning that it will be covered by this license; have no fee
       associated with it, other than a reasonable fee to cover the
       distribution costs; and that it will not be made dependent
       upon additional software unless that software is freely
       available to the public under a license which grants everyone
       the above basic rights.

So you can make competing versions, but then you are bound to make 
them free, under this license, and provide me with source code. 

This eliminates the possibility of someone creating a competing product
using my software and using the "right to create a binary application" 
and the "right to charge a fee" (for distribution and sublicensing) 
to build it into a non-free product.

Also, people who intend to release under this license or the GPL 
for free no longer have to worry about whether they compete--only
people who want to release proprietary software have that worry.

Or so I think :-)

I've also added this obligation:

  You grant to us the above basic rights to any modifications,
  fixes, extensions, improvements, or other alterations to our 
  software which you submit or suggest to us.

so that I don't have to ask for copyright releases if someone 
submits ideas on my mailing list, but don't actually post something
that would count as a "modified version".

I've also changed the language in several other places: I switched
to Bruce's suggestion for making source available via a URL; I deleted
the word "irrevocable" from the basic rights (since that would seem to
conflict with the termination on breach, and other licenses don't 
declare irrevocability), and reworded the language in a few other 
places to be clearer. 

I sure I'm not done yet: comments, problems, suggestions?

I am especially interested in suggestions that would make it simpler.

Justin

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                        Simple Public License 

                        (c) 1999 Justin Wells
                         All Rights Reserved 

                  *** DRAFT: NOT A LEGAL DOCUMENT ***

This license permits you to use our software for free, to create
proprietary applications based on it, and to share modifications with
other users. It discourages code forking and requires you to credit
us, but you can opt out of those restrictions by releasing under the
GNU GPL. Since it's free, there is no warranty and we accept no
liability. This paragraph is not legally binding, the actual terms
follow.


WHAT AND WHO:

  "Our software" refers to the software covered by this license:
  WebMacro (www.webmacro.org), a software package consisting of a
  template language, servlet development library, example code, an
  API, design, documentation, and other materials. The purpose of 
  our software is to provide a development library or tool for 
  building Java servlets.

  "We", "us", and "our" refer to the owners of our software: Semiotek
  Inc., and it's agents.

  "You" and "your" refer to prospective users and licensees who want
  to acquire a right to use our software under this agreement.


OWNERSHIP, TERMINATION, AND APPLICABILITY:

  You agree with us as follows:

  Our software is our property, and it is copyrighted and licensed,
  not sold. You have no rights to our software, except for those
  provided by this license. 

  If you breach the terms of this license, such as by failing to
  fulfill your obligations under it, and you fail to cure the breach
  within thirty (30) days of becoming aware of it, then your rights
  to use our software are terminated, and you must cease using it.

  You are not required to accept this license, since you have not
  signed it. However, nothing else permits you to use our software.


DEFINITION OF BASIC RIGHTS:

  The "basic rights" to software are defined as follows:

    The right to use, copy, reproduce, distribute, display,
    perform, and sublicense the software, and to charge a fee
    for any of these purposes.

    The right to create a "binary application" based on the software,
    by compiling and/or linking the software with your own separate
    source material to produce a binary executable or library; and
    to have these "basic rights" to that binary application.

    The right to create a "modified version" of the software, by
    adding, deleting, editing, changing, fixing, or otherwise altering
    the source files, APIs, documentation, and other materials that
    constitute the software; and to have these "basic rights" to that
    modified version.

  These basic rights are world-wide and non-exclusive. They include
  a limited grant under any patent right, trademark, or copyright
  that may apply to the software, minimally sufficient to allow
  full enjoyment of the other basic rights.
  

YOUR RIGHTS:

  We grant you the above "basic rights" to our software, limited
  by, and conditional upon your fulfillment of, your obligations
  under this license.


YOUR OBLIGATIONS:

  Your obligations under this license include the following:

  You grant to us the above basic rights to any modifications,
  fixes, extensions, improvements, or other alterations to our 
  software which you submit or suggest to us.

  If you distribute a "binary application" based on our software you
  agree to credit our software in your documentation, and to mention
  where it can be obtained for free (such as a URL).

  If you distribute a "modified version" of our software you agree
  that:

    a) Your modified version of our software will not be less free, 
       meaning that it will be covered by this license; have no fee 
       associated with it, other than a reasonable fee to cover the 
       distribution costs; and that it will not be made dependent
       upon additional software unless that software is freely
       available to the public under a license which grants everyone
       the above basic rights.

    b) You will provide us with timely access to your modifications, 
       in a convenient electronic form. For example, you could
       e-mail them to us, or provide us with the URL of a website
       from which we can download them.

    c) Anyone who receives the modified version will also be bound
       by these terms, and you will cause them to know it. 

  Finally, you agree not to include any part of our software, or any
  part of a binary application based on our software, in a competing
  product, unless that competing product as a whole is considered
  to be a modified version of our software. A "competing product" is
  understood to mean software which has, at least in part, the same 
  purpose as we stated for our software in its definition.
  
  These obligations do not apply to copies of software that you place
  under the GNU General Public License, version 2, as published by
  the Free Software Foundation ("GNU GPL"). Thus you can use our
  software to create software that is covered by the GNU GPL.


NO WARRANTY AND NO LIABILITY:

  Use our software at your own risk: it may contain bugs, may fail
  to function correctly, and has been provided without support or
  maintenance of any kind.

  There is NO WARRANTY for our software: it is licensed to you on an
  "AS IS" basis, without even the implied warranties of fitness to
  purpose or merchantability. You are solely responsible for determining
  the appropriateness of its use.

  Under no circumstance will we be held liable for damages arising
  from the use, misuse, or inability to use our software, no matter
  whether they are direct, indirect, special, incidental, or economic
  consequential damages, or for damages resulting from a third
  party claim, even if we have been advised of the possibility of
  such damages.

                  *** DRAFT: NOT A LEGAL DOCUMENT ***