Politics-Free Licence ;)

[Simon Phipps]

I have to agree with Chris here. I appreciate the good intentions,  
but unfortunately I'm not sure the results help us a wider community  
of open source communities.

I also agree with McCoy. Given the freedom to do so, I would omit  
"choice of venue" from licenses, even though it might make corporate  
litigation a bit harder. When it comes to "choice of law" I regard  
that as a "namespace" declaration helping interpretation of the  
language of the license and am sympathetic towards including it, but  
I've seen the misunderstandings it causes in some communities.

Neither are strictly OSD-related but I believe we've agreed we are  
beyond the point where we need to be stricter about the actual canon  
of licenses.

S.


On Jun 28, 2007, at 16:35, Chris DiBona wrote:

> I haven't yet seen why we'd want yet another corner case license.
> Every new license osi approves as subscribing to the osd adds to the
> confusion and difficulty that new developers and companies face when
> using open source and worse yet means yet another largely incompatible
> potential pool of code.
>
> I don't see anything in your license that would tell me it could
> capture more than an impossibly small fraction of developers and be
> worth the time it would take to evaluate it.
>
> I know that sounds hard, and I apologize to the original author, but
> this is something I don't think we spend enough time discussing the
> damage yet another open source license does overall.
>
> Chris
>
> On 6/28/07, Smith, McCoy <mccoy.smith at intel.com> wrote:
>> Isn't a choice of jurisdiction (and venue) clause necessarily a
>> political choice?  I.e., how likely is it that programmers in the
>> Western Hemisphere or in Asia are going to want to use this  
>> license, if
>> in order to enforce it they would need to retain counsel and file  
>> suit
>> in England/Wales?
>>
>> It seems to me that if you want maximum uptake on an open source
>> license, you'd leave out jurisdiction and venue clauses.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Nicholas Cole [mailto:nicholas.cole at gmail.com]
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:56 PM
>> To: license-discuss at opensource.org
>> Subject: Politics-Free Licence ;)
>>
>> I'm a licence newbie, I'm afraid.  Nothing in this email is intended
>> to start a flame-war!
>>
>> I am neither a lawyer nor a programmer, but I have some python code I
>> want to release and was looking for suitable a "share and share  
>> alike"
>> licence for it.  I found it surprisingly hard.
>>
>> The following licence is intended to have three features lacking (for
>> my purposes) in the GPL:
>>
>> [1] It more clearly defines what a 'derived work' is.  Most of the  
>> FSF
>> discussion I could find concerned C code, and was in any case  
>> external
>> to the licence.  I've tried to codify what I take to be the common
>> position, and make it clear how this would apply to an interpreted
>> language.  It is this part of the licence I'm most interested in
>> getting feedback on.  I'm still not entirely happy with the wording.
>>
>> [2] It specifies a jurisdiction.
>>
>> [3] It is intended to be shorter than the GPL.  It doesn't contain  
>> the
>> preamble, and sticks to just defining the terms rather than  
>> explaining
>> their rationale.  I've therefore cheekily christened the licence the
>> "Politics Free Licence".  My major reason for doing this was just to
>> have a shorter, easier to read text.  Neither the name, nor this
>> aspect of the licence is intended to take sides in the ongoing flame
>> war on the Linux kernel mailling list. :)
>>
>> Any feedback or suggestions would be very welcome.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Nicholas
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  0. The Licensed work is referred to in the rest of this document as
>> the Program.
>>
>>  1. You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's
>> source code as you
>> receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and
>> appropriately
>> publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and  
>> disclaimer of
>> warranty;
>> keep intact all the notices that refer to this licence and to the
>> absence of any
>> warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this
>> licence along
>> with the Program.
>>
>>  2. You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any  
>> portion of
>> it, thus
>> forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such
>> modifications or
>> work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet
>> all of these
>> conditions:
>>
>>  a) You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices
>> stating that you
>> changed the files and the date of any change.
>>
>>  b) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in
>> whole or in
>> part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to
>> be licensed as
>> a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this
>> licence.
>>
>>  3. You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it,
>> under Section 2)
>> in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2
>> above
>> provided that you also do one of the following:
>>
>>  a) Accompany it with the complete corresponding source code,  
>> which must
>> be
>> distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
>> customarily used
>> for software interchange; or,
>>
>>  b) Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three  
>> years,
>> to give any
>> third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically
>> performing source
>> distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding
>> source code, to
>> be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium
>> customarily
>> used for software interchange; or,
>>
>>  c) Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to
>> distribute
>> corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for
>> non-commercial
>> distribution and only if you received the program in object code or
>> executable form
>> with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.)
>>
>> For the purposes of this licence the source code for a work means the
>> preferred
>> form of the work for making modifications to it. For an executable
>> work, complete
>> source code means all the source code for all modules it contains,  
>> plus
>> any
>> associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to
>> control compilation
>> and installation of the executable. However, as a special  
>> exception, the
>> source
>> code distributed need not include anything that is normally
>> distributed (in either
>> source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel,
>> and so on) of
>> the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that  
>> component
>> itself
>> accompanies the executable.
>>
>> For the purposes of this licence derivative works (works based on the
>> Program)
>> shall include works that contain part or all of the Program and any
>> machine-readable code generated by compiling or interpreting the
>> Program in whole
>> or part and any other computer program in any form which incorporates
>> the Program
>> or parts of it by linking to or importing the Program. Nothing in  
>> this
>> licence
>> shall be interpreted as excluding any work that would otherwise be
>> considered as a
>> derivative work by applicable law.
>>
>>   4. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program
>> except as
>> expressly provided under this licence. Any attempt otherwise to copy,
>> modify,
>> sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically
>> terminate your
>> rights under this licence. However, parties who have received  
>> copies, or
>> rights,
>> from you under this licence will not have their licences  
>> terminated so
>> long as such
>> parties remain in full compliance.
>>
>>  5. You are not required to accept this licence, since you have not
>> signed it.
>> However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute
>> the Program or
>> its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do
>> not accept this
>> licence. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any
>> work based on
>> the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this licence to do  
>> so, and
>> all its
>> terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the  
>> Program
>> or works
>> based on it.
>>
>>  6. Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the
>> Program), the
>> recipient automatically receives a licence from the original  
>> licensor to
>> copy,
>> distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and
>> conditions. You may not
>> impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the
>> rights granted
>> herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third
>> parties to this
>> licence.
>>
>>  7. If, as a consequence of a court judgement or allegation of patent
>> infringement
>> or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions  
>> are
>> imposed on
>> you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict
>> the conditions
>> of this licence, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this
>> licence. If you
>> cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations  
>> under
>> this
>> licence and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence  
>> you
>> may not
>> distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent licence would
>> not permit
>> royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive
>> copies directly
>> or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy  
>> both it
>> and this
>> licence would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the  
>> Program.
>>
>> 8. This Licence shall be governed by the law of England and Wales and
>> the parties
>> irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of
>> England and
>> Wales.
>>
>>  NO WARRANTY
>>
>>  9. THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY
>> APPLICABLE
>> LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
>> AND/OR OTHER
>> PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
>> EITHER EXPRESSED
>> OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
>> MERCHANTABILITY
>> AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE  
>> QUALITY
>> AND
>> PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE
>> DEFECTIVE, YOU
>> ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
>>
>>  10. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN
>> WRITING WILL ANY
>> COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR
>> REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM
>> AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY
>> GENERAL, SPECIAL,
>> INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR
>> INABILITY TO USE THE
>> PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING
>> RENDERED
>> INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A  
>> FAILURE OF
>> THE PROGRAM
>> TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER  
>> PARTY
>> HAS BEEN
>> ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Open Source Programs Manager, Google Inc.
> Google's Open Source program can be found at http://code.google.com
> Personal Weblog: http://dibona.com

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 2494 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org/attachments/20070628/7fb96b3d/attachment.p7s>