For Approval: Educational Community License

[Wheeler, Bradley C.]

Dear Earnest,

Thank you for catching the formatting errors on the HTML - they have
been corrected.  

Also, I sincerely apologize to the OSI community if I misunderstood the
instructions and intent for rendering the license in HTML.  I was not at
all making a "sleazy attempt to pretend compliance" but rather trying to
follow the submission instruction of saving the conversion step:

"Render the license in two formats: HTML and plain text. Put the HTML
version on a web page. We will convert it into the same style as the
existing approved licenses. You can help us by publishing it in that
style yourself to save us the conversion step."
http://opensource.org/docs/certification_mark.php#approval 

I guess I went too far in doing the conversion work for the appearance
of a license page!  The URL for this has only been sent to OSI for
approval. It is not being shared or used otherwise.

Yes, we did review the Apache license and felt that working from the MIT
license to meet the needs of our projects/community was equally
efficient.

Again, thank you for your time in reviewing our request.

-- Brad

P.S. - I'm not sure if this reply-to-all will make it to the
license-discuss list as I am not registered with it, but please do
convey this apology it if it is a closed list.


-----Original Message-----
From: Ernest Prabhakar [mailto:Prabhaka at apple.com] 
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 3:59 PM
To: Wheeler, Bradley C.
Cc: license-discuss at opensource.org
Subject: Re: For Approval: Educational Community License

Hi Brad,

A cursory examination doesn't reveal anything that looks like it 
violates the OSD, but I did have a few comments:

1.   While I think I understand the intent, your HTML version just 
feels wrong:
  "http://wheeler.kelley.indiana.edu/ecl1.htm"

One, despite the disclaimers, it looks like a sleazy attempt to pretend 
compliance. I know you didn't mean that, but it just looks bad.

Second, the usual reason for HTML is to provide better formatting.   
Your bullet items in the HTML are all mangled up, and its a little hard 
to say exactly what you're requesting

2.  I have to ask: Did you look at the original Apache license?

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-1.1

Perhaps I'm being naive, but I would think you could readily create 
your own version of that license simply by a) adding a clause about 
clearly indicating modifications and b) genericizing the trademark 
clause.

I realize you're already close to it (since you share the MIT 
heritage), but if there was anyway to adopt the phrasing -- and look & 
feel -- of Apache 1.1, it might reduce the learning curve still 
further.

Just my $.02. As I said, I don't see anything OSD-problematic, but I 
did find the review a little harder than I felt it needed to be.

Best of luck,
-- enp
IANAL, TINLA, etc., etc.



On Jun 7, 2004, at 10:54 AM, Wheeler, Bradley C. wrote:

> [ Please discuss this license ]
>
> Greetings,
>
> The purpose of this message is to submit the Educational Community
> License (ECL) for OSI certification.  This request is driven by a 
> recent
> acceleration of application software projects in higher education
(over
> a dozen current projects with new grants pending).  There is a growing
> concern that many of these projects will need to share code and
> interoperate with each other to achieve their full potential for
users.
> In the present state, many of these projects are evolving on unique
> licenses from their local host universities.  There is a timely
> opportunity and need for a common license that can be used for these 
> and
> future projects.
>
> In a step towards realizing a common license, the Sakai Project
> (www.sakaiproject.org <http://www.sakaiproject.org/> ) ($6.8M project)
> and the Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI)(www.theospi.org
> <http://www.theospi.org/> ) ($1M project) - both funded by the Mellon
> Foundation - have both agreed to use the proposed "Educational 
> Community
> License".  This includes formal acceptance from the administration at
> Foothill-De Anza Community College District, Indiana University, MIT,
> Stanford University, the University of Michigan and several companies
> who provide support for open source software in higher education (no
> small feat to reach common agreement!).  The IMS Global Learning
> consortium (50 members) that works on interoperability matters and
> sharing in the education community has also endorsed the ECL as it
sees
> a tremendous need for a common license.  Other universities and 
> projects
> have indicated their interest in using the license if it receives OSI
> certification. As a board member for both the Sakai Project and OSPI,
I
> am submitting ECL on their behalf, and I can provide supporting
letters
> or emails from any of the institutions named here if those would be
> helpful.
>
> ECL is conceived as a very open license regarding the creation of
> derivative works, reuse of code, and freedom to commercialize.  It
> builds on the very successful university-commercial experiences of the
> uPortal Project that also used a very unrestrictive license.  It adds
> some explicit restrictions deemed necessary to protect the
> trademarks/brands of the copyright holders and provides for a lineage 
> of
> modifications to help users understand the origins of their software.
>
> The title of the license is intended to further adoption among open
> source projects in higher education - especially administrative and
> teaching/learning application software projects.  There is no single
> community, organization, or project implied by the license as the
> pattern is that two-three universities pool their resources with a
> foundation or government grant to create some new application.  Each 
> may
> have its own community of users, identity, and organization, but all 
> are
> generally affiliated in one way or another with educational endeavors.
>
>
> The following numbered items correspond to the "Getting a License
> Approved" items from the OSI website:
>
> 1. Title: Educational Community License
>
> 2. HTML Version in OSI mock up:
> http://wheeler.kelley.indiana.edu/ecl1.htm
>     Full Plain Text Version is at the end
>
> 3. Legal Analysis: Comments and references to the Open Source 
> Definition
> are in [brackets].
>
> ---------------------------------------------
>
> The Educational Community License
>
> This Educational Community License (the "License") applies to any
> original work of authorship (the "Original Work") whose owner (the
> "Licensor") has placed the following notice immediately following the
> copyright notice for the Original Work:
> Copyright (c) <year> <copyright holders>
> Licensed under the Educational Community License version 1.0
> This Original Work, including software, source code, documents, or 
> other
> related items, is being provided by the copyright holder(s) subject to
> the terms of the Educational Community License. By obtaining, using
> and/or copying this Original Work, you agree that you have read,
> understand, and will comply with the following terms and conditions of
> the Educational Community License: [2. Source Code is Provided]
> Permission to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and
> sublicense this Original Work and its documentation, with or without
> modification, for any purpose, and without fee or royalty to the
> copyright holder(s) is hereby granted, provided that you include the
> following on ALL copies of the Original Work or portions thereof,
> including modifications or derivatives, that you make: [1. Free
> Redistribution] [3. Derived works can be created and distributed under
> this license or any other license of the author's choice]
> * The full text of the Educational Community License in a location
> viewable to users of the redistributed or derivative work.
> * Any pre-existing intellectual property disclaimers, notices, or
terms
> and conditions.
> * Notice of any changes or modifications to the Original Work, 
> including
> the date the changes were made.
> * Any modifications of the Original Work must be distributed in such a
> manner as to avoid any confusion with the Original Work of the 
> copyright
> holders. [4. Integrity of Author's Source Code: There are no
> restrictions on patches or modifications to the source code.
> Modifications must be identified so that they can be distinguished
from
> the original work]
> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS
> OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
> MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
> IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
> CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
> TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
> SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
> The name and trademarks of copyright holder(s) may NOT be used in
> advertising or publicity pertaining to the Original or Derivative
Works
> without specific, written prior permission. Title to copyright in the
> Original Work and any associated documentation will at all times
remain
> with the copyright holders.
> [5. No Discrimination Against Persons: The ECL license makes no
> reference to any person groups whatsoever]
> [6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor: The ECL license
makes
> no restriction regarding any field of endeavor and could be adopted by
> any software project, group, or commercial organization.  Its title is
> intended to imply its applicability in the educational domain where
> educational institutions have a long and common philosophy of
> cooperating and sharing.]
> [7. Distribution of License: The ECL license imposes no requirements 
> for
> execution of any license or documents]
> [8. License Must Not be Specific to a Product: The ECL license imposes
> no restrictions on bundling or severability of modules or their
> modifications and distribution as a whole save for disclosing the
> original work carried this license]
> [9. License Must Not Restrict Other Software: The ECL license imposes 
> no
> restrictions on bundling or any licensing terms chosen for other works
> including derivatives]
> [10. License Must Be Technology-Neutral: The ECL includes no
provisions
> regarding the form of consent or distribution method]
> ----------------------------------
> 4.1 Similar License:
>
> The Educational Community License is most similar to the MIT license.
> It evolved from the OKI Project at MIT to the CHEF project at the
> University of Michigan to what is now the multi-institutional Sakai
and
> ePortfolio projects mentioned above.  The MIT license presented three
> problems in reaching wide-spread agreement among the universities and
> projects that are proposing ECL.
>
> a.	It did not contain a provision for making notice of changes and
> modifications (lineage).
> b.	It did not contain a provision for distinguishing modifications
> and derivative works from the Original Work.
> c.	It did not contain explicit language for protecting the
> trademarks of the copyright holders from being using in conjunction 
> with
> publicity of the original or derivative works.  This is particularly
> important as the license is intended to be commercialization friendly
> for the original work and derivative works.
>
> The projects and their respective university counsel also reviewed 
> other
> OSI approved licenses as alternatives including BSD and the Academic
> Free License.  There was very strong desire to use a short and easily
> understood license that could be readily understood by developers
> without the consultation of counsel.
>
>
> 4.2 Compatibility with Other Licenses:
>
> The ECL is readily compatible with other licenses that provide few
> restrictions on derivative works.  Licenses with copyleft provisions,
> such as GNU General Public License, the Jabber Open Source License, or
> the Open Source License 2.0, would impose obligations on derivative
> works that ECL does not.  Thus, a merging of code based on the ECL, 
> some
> GNU code, and some newly written code would likely be subject to the
> more restrictive GNU licensing rules.  A merging of code based on the
> ECL, BSD 2.0, and some newly written code would invoke ECL
requirements
> outlined in section 4.1 above (change notice, distinguishing the
> derivative work, and ban on use of copyright holder trademarks in
> publicity).
>
>
> 4.3 Plain Text Version of Educational Community License:
>
> Educational Community License 1.0
>
> This Educational Community License (the "License") applies to any
> original work of authorship (the "Original Work") whose owner (the
> "Licensor") has placed the following notice immediately following the
> copyright notice for the Original Work:
>
> Copyright (c) <year> <copyright holders>
>
> Licensed under the Educational Community License version 1.0
>
> This Original Work, including software, source code, documents, or 
> other
> related items, is being provided by the copyright holder(s) subject to
> the terms of the Educational Community License. By obtaining, using
> and/or copying this Original Work, you agree that you have read,
> understand, and will comply with the following terms and conditions of
> the Educational Community License:
>
> Permission to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, and
> sublicense this Original Work and its documentation, with or without
> modification, for any purpose, and without fee or royalty to the
> copyright holder(s) is hereby granted, provided that you include the
> following on ALL copies of the Original Work or portions thereof,
> including modifications or derivatives, that you make:
>
> *      The full text of the Educational Community License in a
location
> viewable to users of the redistributed or derivative work.
>
> *      Any pre-existing intellectual property disclaimers, notices, or
> terms and conditions.
>
> *      Notice of any changes or modifications to the Original Work,
> including the date the changes were made.
>
> *      Any modifications of the Original Work must be distributed in
> such a manner as to avoid any confusion with the Original Work of the
> copyright holders.
>
>
> THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS
> OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
> MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
> IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
> CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
> TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
> SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
>
> The name and trademarks of copyright holder(s) may NOT be used in
> advertising or publicity pertaining to the Original or Derivative
Works
> without specific, written prior permission. Title to copyright in the
> Original Work and any associated documentation will at all times
remain
> with the copyright holders.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> IU Assoc Vice President for Research & Academic Computing and Dean of 
> IT
>      Assoc Professor of Information Systems, Kelley School of Business
> Indiana University Office of the Vice President for IT & CIO, +1
> 812.855.3478
>
>
> --
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