Plan 9 license

Mon Nov 4 02:58:00 UTC 2002

> > It turns out that this license is still *NOT* OSD compliant,
> > ie. it is not what those running the OSI would label "Open
> > Source".
>
> Could you please specify wherein the Plan 9 license fails of Open
> Sourceness in its current incarnation?  The complaints of RMS at
> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/plan-nine.html seem to apply with equal
> force to the Perl license (which he calls unFree) and the OSL 1.0,
> with the exception of the termination-on-any-IP-lawsuit provision.

For now I'll limit myself to comparing the summary
of problems that you wrote August 20 2000 [1], with
the current license [2,3].

There may of course be other issues not covered in
your summary, though it was in my judgment a good
summary of the situation as the license was at that
time.

> 1) Lucent reserves the right to demand source
> code for your private undistributed modifications;

The current (as at Nov 03 2002) license says:

"Modifications which You create ... must be made
available under the terms of this Agreement in at
least the same form as the Source Code version of
Original Software furnished hereunder."

They don't explicitly exclude private changes.
But I doubt they really care, so I think this
could be fixed easily.

"You agree to provide the Original Contributor,
at its request, with a copy of the complete Source
Code version, Object Code version and related
documentation for Modifications created or
contributed to by You if distributed in any
form"

They don't define "distribute" or any variant of
the word. But again, although with less certainty,
I suspect they would not mind about private
distribution (within a single entity) and could
fix the wording.

> 2) commercial redistribution can only be for a
> "reasonable" price, an undefined term that might
> lead to trouble later;

"Distribution ... may ... include a reasonable
charge for the cost of any media. You may also,
at Your option, charge for any other software,
product or service that includes or incorporates
the Original Software as a part thereof."

I believe the last sentence was added after your
summary. Afaict, it mostly fixes the problem.

> 3) the license conditions are reimposed on your
> distributees, which suggests that you must have
> an explicit contract with them (I think RMS is
> overdoing it here);

I'm not sure what this is about so I won't try
to review this.

> 4) the retaliation clause causes you to lose all
> rights if you sue Lucent on any IP matter whatever,
> even if it has nothing to do with Plan 9;

"The licenses and rights granted under this
Agreement shall terminate automatically if ...
(ii) You initiate or participate in any
intellectual property action against Original
Contributor."

So, this problem remains.

Note that, from
http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-2000-09/lw-09-expo00-licensing.h
tml
http://tinyurl.com/2euh

    [Eric] Raymond favors a "Chinese finger
    trap" provision for future licenses: under
    its terms, if you initiate patent legal
    action against the copyright holder, you
    lose your license rights.

Ironic, huh? (Although what he actually said
or meant may have been less extreme than the
above seems to imply.)

> 5) the license imposes the U.S. export regulations
> on you if you export the software, even if they
> would not otherwise apply as a matter of law.

"You acknowledge that the Licensed Software
hereunder is "unrestricted encryption source
code" as the term is defined under the United
States Export Administration Regulations and
is subject to export control under such laws
and regulations. You agree that, if you export
or re-export the Licensed Software ... You
are responsible for compliance with the United
States Export Administration Regulations..."

I can't tell if this wording creates the
problem you describe.

> The Lucida fonts bundled with Plan 9 are definitely
> not free, but nothing compels you to use or
> redistribute them (they cannot be modified or
> redistributed except as part of Plan 9).

"2.2 No right is granted to Licensee to create
derivative works of or to redistribute (other
than with the Original Software or a derivative
thereof) the screen imprinter fonts..."

Looks Ok to me.

=============

Footnotes:

[1]
Your summary of issues with Plan 9 license is at:
http://tinyurl.com/1ch9 or
http://www.crynwr.com/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi?3:mss:2173:aankcpfkdbioplpjjacb

[2]
The current license is supposed to be stored at
http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/plan9dist/license.html

I include a copy of the version I read from for
this email in footnote 3.

The md5sum checksum for the version I am using
for this email is f8be6752dae66936309f85b457c9f487

This version includes the text "Version 1.4 -
09/10/02" at the bottom. However, two posts to
comp.os.plan9 suggest that this is misleading:

http://tinyurl.com/2etj or
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=39e5c4a
ebead98720077a2dd482865c3%40plan9.bell-labs.com

and

http://tinyurl.com/2eth or
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=7b50a04
c440bd556020e69a7e8b5a094%40plan9.bell-labs.com

[3]
Apologies for the length of this footnote,
but, as should hopefully be clear if you
read footnote 2 above, I felt it was worth
trying to keep this on the record this way
to reduce confusion if someone later comes
across this post.

The remainder of this email is the Plan 9
"Open Source" License that I used as the
source for this email:

LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC.

PLAN 9 OPEN SOURCE LICENSE AGREEMENT

PLEASE READ THIS AGREEMENT (INCLUDING THE EXHIBITS) CAREFULLY BEFORE
PROCEEDING. BY CLICKING ON THE "ACCEPT" BUTTON, OR BY DOWNLOADING,
INSTALLING, USING, COPYING, MODIFYING OR DISTRIBUTING THE SOFTWARE OR
DERIVATIVE WORKS THEREOF, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO BE BOUND BY THIS
AGREEMENT.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, CLICK ON THE
"DO NOT ACCEPT" BUTTON AND THE INSTALLATION/DOWNLOAD PROCESS WILL NOT
CONTINUE.

1. DEFINITIONS

"Agreement" means this Lucent Technologies Inc. Plan 9 Open Source
License Agreement (including Exhibits).

"Contributor(s)" means any individual or legal entity that creates or
contributes to a Modification of the Original Software.

"Licensee" means an individual or a legal entity entering into and
exercising rights under this Agreement. For the purposes hereunder,
Licensee includes any entity that controls, is controlled by, or is
under common control with Licensee. For purposes of this definition,
"control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
otherwise; or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
controlling shares or beneficial ownership of such entity. Licensee is
also referred to herein as "You" with "Your" as the possessive.

"Licensed Software" means the Original Software, Modifications, or any
combination of the Original Software and Modifications.

"Lucent" means Lucent Technologies Inc., a Delaware corporation having
an office at 600 Mountain Ave., Murray Hill, NJ 07974, its related
companies and/or affiliates.

"Modification(s)" means any addition, deletion, change, or improvement
to the Original Software or prior Modifications thereto. Modifications
do not include additions to the Original Software or prior Modifications
which (i) are separate modules of software which may be distributed in
conjunction with Licensed Software; or (ii) are not derivative works of
the Licensed Software itself.

"Object Code" means machine executable software code.

"Original Contributor" means Lucent and its Licensors, collectively.

"Original Software" means the Plan 9 Software, in both Source Code form
and Object Code form, and any associated documentation, as furnished
under this Agreement.

"Plan 9 Software" means a network operating system designed for research
into distributed services, applications and software development.

"Plan 9 Trademark" means the trademark PLAN 9 (for which Lucent has
acquired common law rights and for which Lucent owns U.S. Trademark
Registration Number 2,065,577).

"Recipient" means any individual or legal entity receiving the Licensed
Software under this Agreement, including all Contributors, or receiving
the Licensed Software under another license agreement as authorized
herein.

"Source Code" means human readable software code.

2.0 GRANT OF RIGHTS

2.1 Subject to the terms of this Agreement and to third party
intellectual property claims, Lucent grants to Licensee, a royalty-free,
nonexclusive, non-transferable, worldwide license to use, reproduce,
modify, execute, display, perform, distribute and sublicense, the
Original Software (with or without Modifications) in Source Code form
and/or Object Code form for commercial and/or non-commercial purposes.
This grant includes a nonexclusive and non-transferable license under
any patents which Lucent has a right to license and which, but for this
license, are unavoidably and necessarily infringed by the execution of
the inherent functionality of the Original Software in the form
furnished under this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement shall be
construed as conferring in any way (by implication, estoppel or
otherwise) any license or right under any existing or future patent
claim which is directed to a combination of the functionality of the
Original Software with the functionality of any other software programs,
or a combination of hardware systems other than the combination of the
Original Software and the hardware or firmware into which the Original
Software is loaded. Distribution of Licensed Software to third parties
pursuant to this grant shall be subject to the same terms and conditions
as set forth in this Agreement, and may, at Your option, include a
reasonable charge for the cost of any media. You may also, at Your
option, charge for any other software, product or service that includes
or incorporates the Original Software as a part thereof.

2.2 No right is granted to Licensee to create derivative works of or to
redistribute (other than with the Original Software or a derivative
thereof) the screen imprinter fonts identified in subdirectory
/lib/font/bit/lucida and printer fonts (Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Sans
Italic, Lucida Sans Demibold, Lucida Typewriter, Lucida Sans
Typewriter83), identified in subdirectory /sys/lib/postscript/font.

2.3 Exhibit A contains additional terms and conditions relating to the
printer fonts identified in subdirectory /sys/lib/ghostscript/font. In
the case of any conflict between the provisions of the body of this
Agreement and Exhibit A regarding such printer fonts, the provisions of
Exhibit A shall control.

2.4 The Original Software licensed herein contains material copyrights
by the Original Contributor, including but not limited to Lucent, B&H
Inc., and Y&Y Inc. No rights are granted with respect to Original
Software except as expressly provided herein.

2.5 Lucent grants to Licensee a nonexclusive, royalty free, worldwide
license to use the Plan 9 Trademark solely in connection with the Plan 9
operating system source code (or object code) and documentation. Such
use by Licensee of the Plan 9 Trademark shall be in accordance with the
following quality standards and controls:

Any use of the Plan 9 Trademark must be made under the terms of this
Agreement;
The Plan 9 Trademark may not be combined with any other mark or logo to
form a composite mark or logo or suggest that the Parties are part of
one company.
Upon Lucent's written request and at Licensee's expense, Licensee will
provide Lucent with a representative sample of Licensee's promotional
materials bearing the Plan 9 Trademark. If, for any reason, Lucent
determines that the quality standards or controls applied by Licensee to
the Plan 9 system source code and documentation fall below those that
are consistent with Lucent's standards, upon written notice of the
deficiency to Licensee, Lucent may, at its sole option and discretion,
terminate Licensee's right to use the Plan 9 Trademark upon written
notice to Licensee.

Licensee acknowledges that Lucent is the owner of the Plan 9 Trademark
and all goodwill attached thereto. This Agreement does not give Licensee
any interest in the Plan 9 Trademark except the right to use the mark in
accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. Licensee agrees not to
attempt to register the Plan 9 Trademark nor to adopt, attempt to
register or register anywhere in the world a mark the same as or
confusingly similar to the Plan 9 Trademark.

3.0 DISTRIBUTION OBLIGATIONS

3.1 Modifications which You create or to which You contribute are
governed by the terms of this Agreement and must be made available under
the terms of this Agreement in at least the same form as the Source Code
version of Original Software furnished hereunder. Any distribution by
You of the Source Code version of Licensed Software must be made under
the terms of this Agreement or any future version of this Agreement
under Section 11.0, and You must include a copy of this Agreement with
each and every copy of such Source Code version of Licensed Software
which You distribute. You may not offer or impose any terms on any such
Source Code version of Licensed Software that alters or restricts the
terms of the applicable version of this Agreement or the Recipients'
rights and obligations hereunder.

3.2 You must cause all Licensed Software to which You contribute, i.e.
Your Modifications, to contain a clear identification, e.g., a separate
file, documenting the changes made by You and identifying You as the
Contributor that reasonably allows subsequent Recipients to identify the
originator of the Modification. To the extent You create at least one
Modification, You may add Your name as a Contributor to the requisite
notice described in Section 3.3.

3.3 With respect to Your distribution of Licensed Software (or any
portion thereof), You must include the following information in a
conspicuous location governing such distribution (e.g., a separate file)
and on all copies of any Source Code version of Licensed Software You
distribute:

"The contents herein includes software initially developed by Lucent
Technologies Inc. and others, and is subject to the terms of the Lucent
Technologies Inc. Plan 9 Open Source License Agreement. A copy of the
Plan 9 Open Source License Agreement is available at:
http://plan9.bell-labs.com/plan9dist/download.html or by contacting
Lucent Technologies at http://www.lucent.com.

All software distributed under such Agreement is distributed on an "AS
IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
the Lucent Technologies Inc. Plan 9 Open Source License Agreement for
the specific language governing all rights, obligations and limitations
under such Agreement.

Contributor(s):___________________________"

3.4 You may distribute Licensed Software in Object Code form using this
Agreement, or under a license of Your choice provided that You are in
compliance with this Agreement and Your license: (a) complies with the
terms and conditions of this Agreement; (b) does not limit or alter the
Recipient's rights and obligations in the Source Code version of the
Licensed Software set forth in this Agreement; (c) states that the
Source Code version of the Licensed Software is available from You, and
describes how it may be obtained by Recipient; (d) effectively disclaims
on behalf of Original Contributor and all Contributors all warranties
and conditions, express or implied, including warranties or conditions
of title or non-infringement, and implied warranties or conditions of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose; (e) effectively
excludes on behalf of Original Contributor and all Contributors all
liability for damages, including direct, indirect, special, incidental,
and consequential damages; and (f) clearly states that any terms which
differ from this Agreement are offered by You alone, not by Original
Contributor or any other Contributor. You hereby agree to indemnify
Original Contributor or any other Contributor for any liability incurred
by Original Contributor or any other Contributor as result of any such
differing terms You offer in Your license.

3.5 You may not use the names "Lucent Technologies", "Bell Labs" or any
other name associated with Lucent or any Lucent trademark for any
purposes other than as specifically provided in this Agreement.

3.6 You must include all of the original copyright, labels or other
notices on the Licensed Software on any copies of the Licensed Software
which You make; and include with the distribution of any Modifications
You create a copy (or an offer to provide such a copy at no charge) of
the Licensed Software, on the same terms as set forth in this Agreement.

3.7 While this Agreement contemplates the commercial use and
distribution of Licensed Software, commercial distributors of software
may, for a variety of reasons, accept certain responsibilities with
respect to customers, licensees, business partners and the like. As
such, if You or any Contributor include Licensed Software in a
commercial offering ("Commercial Contributor"), such Commercial
Contributor agrees to defend and indemnify Original Contributor and all
other Contributors (collectively "Indemnified Contributors") against any
liability, losses, damages and costs arising from claims, lawsuits and
other legal actions brought by any third party against the Indemnified
Contributors to the extent caused by the acts or omissions of such
Commercial Contributor in connection with its use or distribution of
Licensed Software in a commercial offering of any kind.

4.0 MODIFICATIONS

You agree to provide the Original Contributor, at its request, with a
copy of the complete Source Code version, Object Code version and
related documentation for Modifications created or contributed to by You
if distributed in any form, e.g., binary or source. Original Contributor
and/or other Contributors shall have unrestricted, nonexclusive,
worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free rights, to use, reproduce, modify,
display, perform, sublicense and distribute such Modifications, and to
grant third parties the right to do so, including without limitation as
a part of or with the Licensed Software; and Original Contributor and/or
other Contributors shall have the right to license or to otherwise
transfer to third parties such Modifications without notice, obligation
or recourse to You. You grant to Original Contributor, Contributors and
their respective licensees all rights and licenses (including patents)
as are necessary to incorporate the Modifications created or contributed
and so distributed by You into the Licensed Software and to use,
distribute or otherwise exploit such Licensed Software without payment
or accounting to You.

TITLE

Title, ownership rights, and intellectual property rights in the
Original Software and the Plan 9 Trademark shall remain in the Original
Contributor. Original Contributor and/or the other Contributors reserve
all rights not expressly granted to You, and no other licenses are
granted or implied. The Licensed Software is protected by copyright laws
and treaties.

6.0 TERMINATION

The licenses and rights granted under this Agreement shall terminate
automatically if (i) You fail to comply with all of the terms and
conditions herein; or (ii) You initiate or participate in any
intellectual property action against Original Contributor.

The rights and obligations of the parties hereto which by their nature
would continue beyond termination of this Agreement shall survive and
continue after any such termination of this Agreement.

Upon termination for any reason, You must destroy all copies of the
Licensed Software in Your possession. All sublicenses of Licensed
Software which were validly granted by You to third parties under this
Agreement shall survive such termination.

7.0 DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY
LAW, THE LICENSED SOFTWARE IS LICENSED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT FREE OF
CHARGE ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITH ALL FAULTS, LATENT AND PATENT AND
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY TYPE. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR AND THE OTHER
CONTRIBUTORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR
IMPLIED. BY WAY OF EXAMPLE, BUT NOT OF LIMITATION, ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR
AND THE OTHER CONTRIBUTORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR THAT THE USE OF THE LICENSED
SOFTWARE WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY PATENT OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHT OF ANY THIRD PARTY AND IT SHALL BE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF YOU
TO MAKE SUCH DETERMINATION AS IS NECESSARY WITH RESPECT TO THE
ACQUISITION OF LICENSES UNDER PATENTS OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR AND THE OTHER CONTRIBUTORS
DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LICENSED SOFTWARE WILL MEET
YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT LICENSED SOFTWARE OPERATION WILL BE ERROR-FREE
OR UNINTERRUPTED. YOU ASSUME THE RISK OF ANY AND ALL DAMAGE OR LOSS FROM
USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE LICENSED SOFTWARE. ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR
AND THE OTHER CONTRIBUTORS BEAR NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR CORRECTING THE
LICENSED SOFTWARE, SUPPLYING ASSISTANCE FOR FIXING, OR FOR COMMUNICATING
KNOWN ERRORS TO YOU PERTAINING TO THE LICENSED SOFTWARE FURNISHED
HEREUNDER.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR AND THE OTHER CONTRIBUTORS SHALL NOT BE HELD TO ANY
LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO ANY PATENT INFRINGEMENT OR ANY OTHER CLAIM
MADE BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY ON ACCOUNT OF, OR ARISING FROM THE USE
OF, THE LICENSED SOFTWARE PROVIDED HEREUNDER.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE
ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS
THAT VARY FROM JURISDICTION TO JURISDICTION.

8.0 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, TORT, CONTRACT, OR
OTHERWISE, SHALL ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR AND/OR THE OTHER CONTRIBUTORS BE
LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL,
INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER WHATSOEVER
INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK
STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER
COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF THE ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR AND/OR
ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTORS SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. FURTHERMORE, SOME
JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THIS LIMITATION AND EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO
YOU. TO THE EXTENT THAT ANY EXCLUSION OF DAMAGES ABOVE IS NOT VALID, YOU
AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT WILL ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTOR'S AND ALL OTHER
CONTRIBUTORS' TOTAL LIABILITY UNDER OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT EXCEED
ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1000.00 US).

9.0 EXPORT CONTROL

You acknowledge that the Licensed Software hereunder is "unrestricted
encryption source code" as the term is defined under the United States
Export Administration Regulations and is subject to export control under
such laws and regulations. You agree that, if you export or re-export
the Licensed Software or any modifications to it, You are responsible
for compliance with the United States Export Administration Regulations
and hereby indemnify the Original Contributor and all other Contributors
for any liability incurred as a result.

10.0 U.S. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS

You may only acquire the Licensed Software on behalf of, or for delivery
to, any part of the United States Government, if the Licensed Software
is treated as commercial computer software and licensed to the
Government under the terms and conditions of this Agreement, pursuant to
the policies stated in 48 C.F.R. Section 12.212 (October 1995) or 48
C.F.R. Section 227.7202 (June 1995), as applicable.

11.0 LICENSE VERSIONS

LUCENT, at its sole discretion, may from time to time publish a revised
and/or new version of this Agreement (each such revised or new version
shall carry a distinguishing version number) which shall govern all
copies of Licensed Software downloaded after the posting of such revised
or new version of this Agreement.

12.0 MISCELLANEOUS

This Agreement sets forth the entire agreement and understanding between
the parties as to the subject matter hereof and merges all prior
discussions between them. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws
of the State of New York, USA, excluding its conflict of law provisions.
The application of the United Nations Convention of Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. YOUR DOWNLOAD,
INSTALLATION AND USE, MODIFICATION OR DISTRIBUTION OF THE LICENSED
SOFTWARE IS EXPRESSLY MADE CONDITIONAL ON YOUR ASSENT TO THE TERMS SET
FORTH HEREIN. You further agree and acknowledge that by clicking on the
"ACCEPT" button below, You shall have manifested acceptance to enter
into this Agreement and shall be deemed to have manually signed and
executed this Agreement making this an enforceable Agreement between the
parties. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable,
such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it
enforceable.

EXHIBIT A - GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
<snip>

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT (INCLUDING THE
EXHIBITS) AND UNDERSTAND IT, AND THAT BY CLICKING ON THE "ACCEPT" BUTTON
BELOW AND INSTALLING/DOWNLOADING THE SOFTWARE YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE
BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT.

Plan 9 Open Source License - Version 1.4 - 09/10/02

--
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