SocialText license discussion--call for closure of arguments

[Ben Tilly]

On 1/19/07, Timothy McIntyre <tmcintyre at terracottatech.com> wrote:
> As for the invitation for submissions "for" and "against" the approval
> of the SocialText-submitted "generic attribution provision," I would be
> willing to prepare a position in favor of the license, perhaps with a
> few small modifications.  I would be happy to work with anyone else who
> favors approving the license.
>
> Essentially, I think the SocialText license should be approved for the
> same reasons that the OSI approved the Attribution Assurance License.

The key argument against the SocialText license is item 10 of the OSD.
 This is a test that the Attribution Assurance License never had to
pass since it was approved before that clause was added to the OSD.
Furthermore the terms of the Attribution Assurance License are
substantially less problematic in this regard than the terms of the
SocialText license.

Therefore that precedent is a very weak argument for approving the
SocialText license.  And does absolutely nothing to address the main
criticism of the license.

Cheers,
Ben