OVPL - wrap-up of objections

[Wilson, Andrew]

Ernest Prabhakar wrote:

> I'm still trying to understand why the OVPL counts as 'pay to play'  
> but the GPL does not. Is it the fundamental asymmetry that bothers  
> you?   

yes.

> What if, for example, OVPL required that all modifications be  
> published publicly under a BSD license?  Would that be 'in keeping  
> with open source principles'?

yes.

> Also, are you asserting that this violates the spirit or letter of a  
> particular OSD clause, or is simply a bad idea?

Spirit of OSD clause #1.  When you make one modification to OVPL code,
you are then obligated for the term of the license (which, if it's
term of the copyright in the underlying code, is now effectively
perpetuity in the US) to provide the ID with all future modifications,
and to grant the ID special rights beyond what you received under
OVPL.  To my mind, this represents a kind of "code tax" which goes
well beyond other reciprocal licenses (GPL, MPL).  Mandating sharing
is one thing, mandating the ID's right to privatize code
written by other people is quite another.

Andy Wilson
Intel Open Source Technology Center