Subscription/Service Fees
David Johnson
david at usermode.org
Tue Mar 27 00:44:07 UTC 2001
On Tuesday March 27 2001 08:16 am, David Davies wrote:
> It appears that the Open Source definition would not specifically limit a
> license from requiring users to pay a subscription fee or month service fee
> for using the software. Perhaps I am missing something?
You can charge your customers whatever they will bear in
order to acquire the software. However, you may not prevent them from
distributing it to someone else for no charge. I don't see anything in the
OSD that *specifically* forbids usage charges. But so what? Whether or not
the OSD allows "usage charges" is irrelevant. All I have to do is give a copy
to my friend, he gives me a copy back, and I don't have to pay him nor does
he have to pay you. Tada!
However, playing devil's advocate, you could distribute it as normal closed
source shareware, and only offer an Open Source license upon registration...
--
David Johnson
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