[License-discuss] Open Source Eventually License Development

[zooko]

On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 09:23:23PM -0400, Richard Stallman wrote:
> 
>     Tahoe-LAFS is licensed to the public under the "Transitive Grace Period Public
>     Licence 1.0" [*]. Tahoe-LAFS is Free and Open software. The "Transitive Grace
>     Period Public Licence" is an Open Source licence.
> 
> Is that true?  Or is it just a hypothetical example?

This is true:

https://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs/browser/trunk/docs/about.rst#license

> I don't recall studying this license.  I am not sure what it says.  It is not in our license-list.html page.  So I don't know whether it is a free software license, and if it isn't, then Tahoe-LAFS is not free sotfware.

Tahoe-LAFS is also available under the GPL, at your option.

In addition it is my current belief that the TGPPL is a Free Software licence.

At least as much as the GNU All-Permissive License is -- the TGPPL permits
derived works to be proprietary, just as the GNU All-Permissive License does,
but the TGPPL permits such proprietary derived works only under limiting
conditions, unlike the GNU All-Permissive License, which allows proprietary
derived works unconditionally.

Tahoe-LAFS is available to the public under the terms of either licence, and so
the public has full rights to use the Tahoe-LAFS software freely, therefore
Tahoe-LAFS is Free Software.

> If you send me the text of this license, I can study it.

I'll append it to the end of this letter.

I've previously submitted it to the FSF for review. Brett Smith replied in
private email in December of 2010:

""" We haven't done a complete analysis (so please don't take this as the FSF's
official position), but my initial impression was that our opinion about
permissive licenses generally would extend to the TGPPL as well.  Namely: the
TGPPL legally grants a recipient all the rights they need to have free
software.  But when a user receives a particular work under the license's
terms, they may not have the source code that they need to practically exercise
those rights -- at least for a while.  So the license itself is free, but you
need to look at a little more information to figure out whether a particular
user has freedom with a particular work under its terms.  """

(I hope Brett does not mind that I quoted his email in public! It seems
appropriate and I think he won't mind.)

He also wrote a great deal more in a private conversation between him and me
about practical considerations.

By the way, I too am concerned about the practical issue that Brett raised: do
you have access to the source code that you would need in order to exercise
your rights? With Tahoe-LAFS and LeastAuthority.com, we have hitherto published
source code even when the user did not (yet) have full rights to it. That way,
there is no action or inaction on our part that could prevent the user from
subsequently exercising their rights.

I would be interested in a variant of the Transitive Grace Period Public
Licence which imposed that as a condition on the makers of derived works.

Regards,

Zooko

------- begin appended text of Transitive Grace Period Public Licence, v1.0

=======================================================
Transitive Grace Period Public Licence ("TGPPL") v. 1.0
=======================================================

This Transitive Grace Period Public Licence (the "License") applies to any
original work of authorship (the "Original Work") whose owner (the
"Licensor") has placed the following licensing notice adjacent to the
copyright notice for the Original Work:

 *Licensed under the Transitive Grace Period Public Licence version 1.0*

1.  **Grant of Copyright License.** Licensor grants You a worldwide,
    royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable license, for the duration of
    the copyright, to do the following:

    a. to reproduce the Original Work in copies, either alone or as part of a
       collective work;

    b. to translate, adapt, alter, transform, modify, or arrange the Original
       Work, thereby creating derivative works ("Derivative Works") based upon
       the Original Work;

    c. to distribute or communicate copies of the Original Work and Derivative
       Works to the public, with the proviso that copies of Original Work or
       Derivative Works that You distribute or communicate shall be licensed
       under this Transitive Grace Period Public Licence no later than 12
       months after You distributed or communicated said copies;

    d. to perform the Original Work publicly; and

    e. to display the Original Work publicly.

2.  **Grant of Patent License.** Licensor grants You a worldwide,
    royalty-free, non-exclusive, sublicensable license, under patent claims
    owned or controlled by the Licensor that are embodied in the Original
    Work as furnished by the Licensor, for the duration of the patents, to
    make, use, sell, offer for sale, have made, and import the Original Work
    and Derivative Works.

3.  **Grant of Source Code License.** The term "Source Code" means the
    preferred form of the Original Work for making modifications to it and
    all available documentation describing how to modify the Original
    Work. Licensor agrees to provide a machine-readable copy of the Source
    Code of the Original Work along with each copy of the Original Work that
    Licensor distributes. Licensor reserves the right to satisfy this
    obligation by placing a machine-readable copy of the Source Code in an
    information repository reasonably calculated to permit inexpensive and
    convenient access by You for as long as Licensor continues to distribute
    the Original Work.

4.  **Exclusions From License Grant.** Neither the names of Licensor, nor the
    names of any contributors to the Original Work, nor any of their
    trademarks or service marks, may be used to endorse or promote products
    derived from this Original Work without express prior permission of the
    Licensor. Except as expressly stated herein, nothing in this License
    grants any license to Licensor's trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade
    secrets or any other intellectual property. No patent license is granted
    to make, use, sell, offer for sale, have made, or import embodiments of
    any patent claims other than the licensed claims defined in Section 2. No
    license is granted to the trademarks of Licensor even if such marks are
    included in the Original Work. Nothing in this License shall be
    interpreted to prohibit Licensor from licensing under terms different
    from this License any Original Work that Licensor otherwise would have a
    right to license.

5.  **External Deployment.** The term "External Deployment" means the use,
    distribution, or communication of the Original Work or Derivative Works
    in any way such that the Original Work or Derivative Works may be used by
    anyone other than You, whether those works are distributed or
    communicated to those persons or made available as an application
    intended for use over a network. As an express condition for the grants
    of license hereunder, You must treat any External Deployment by You of
    the Original Work or a Derivative Work as a distribution under section
    1(c).

6.  **Attribution Rights.** You must retain, in the Source Code of any
    Derivative Works that You create, all copyright, patent, or trademark
    notices from the Source Code of the Original Work, as well as any notices
    of licensing and any descriptive text identified therein as an
    "Attribution Notice." You must cause the Source Code for any Derivative
    Works that You create to carry a prominent Attribution Notice reasonably
    calculated to inform recipients that You have modified the Original Work.

7.  **Warranty of Provenance and Disclaimer of Warranty.** Licensor warrants
    that the copyright in and to the Original Work and the patent rights
    granted herein by Licensor are owned by the Licensor or are sublicensed
    to You under the terms of this License with the permission of the
    contributor(s) of those copyrights and patent rights. Except as expressly
    stated in the immediately preceding sentence, the Original Work is
    provided under this License on an "AS IS" BASIS and WITHOUT WARRANTY,
    either express or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties
    of non-infringement, merchantability or fitness for a particular
    purpose. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY OF THE ORIGINAL WORK IS WITH
    YOU. This DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY constitutes an essential part of this
    License. No license to the Original Work is granted by this License
    except under this disclaimer.

8.  **Limitation of Liability.** Under no circumstances and under no legal
    theory, whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
    shall the Licensor be liable to anyone for any indirect, special,
    incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a result
    of this License or the use of the Original Work including, without
    limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure
    or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or losses. This
    limitation of liability shall not apply to the extent applicable law
    prohibits such limitation.

9.  **Acceptance and Termination.** If, at any time, You expressly assented
    to this License, that assent indicates your clear and irrevocable
    acceptance of this License and all of its terms and conditions. If You
    distribute or communicate copies of the Original Work or a Derivative
    Work, You must make a reasonable effort under the circumstances to obtain
    the express assent of recipients to the terms of this License. This
    License conditions your rights to undertake the activities listed in
    Section 1, including your right to create Derivative Works based upon the
    Original Work, and doing so without honoring these terms and conditions
    is prohibited by copyright law and international treaty. Nothing in this
    License is intended to affect copyright exceptions and limitations
    (including 'fair use' or 'fair dealing'). This License shall terminate
    immediately and You may no longer exercise any of the rights granted to
    You by this License upon your failure to honor the conditions in Section
    1(c).

10. **Termination for Patent Action.** This License shall terminate
    automatically and You may no longer exercise any of the rights granted to
    You by this License as of the date You commence an action, including a
    cross-claim or counterclaim, against Licensor or any licensee alleging
    that the Original Work infringes a patent. This termination provision
    shall not apply for an action alleging patent infringement by
    combinations of the Original Work with other software or hardware.

11. **Jurisdiction, Venue and Governing Law.** Any action or suit relating to
    this License may be brought only in the courts of a jurisdiction wherein
    the Licensor resides or in which Licensor conducts its primary business,
    and under the laws of that jurisdiction excluding its conflict-of-law
    provisions. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts
    for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. Any use of the
    Original Work outside the scope of this License or after its termination
    shall be subject to the requirements and penalties of copyright or patent
    law in the appropriate jurisdiction. This section shall survive the
    termination of this License.

12. **Attorneys' Fees.** In any action to enforce the terms of this License
    or seeking damages relating thereto, the prevailing party shall be
    entitled to recover its costs and expenses, including, without
    limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in connection
    with such action, including any appeal of such action. This section shall
    survive the termination of this License.

13. **Miscellaneous.** If any provision of this License is held to be
    unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent
    necessary to make it enforceable.

14. **Definition of "You" in This License.** "You" throughout this License,
    whether in upper or lower case, means an individual or a legal entity
    exercising rights under, and complying with all of the terms of, this
    License. For legal entities, "You" includes any entity that controls, is
    controlled by, or is under common control with you. 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
    outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.

15. **Right to Use.** You may use the Original Work in all ways not otherwise
    restricted or conditioned by this License or by law, and Licensor
    promises not to interfere with or be responsible for such uses by You.

16. **Modification of This License.** This License is Copyright © 2007 Zooko
    Wilcox-O'Hearn. Permission is granted to copy, distribute, or communicate
    this License without modification. Nothing in this License permits You to
    modify this License as applied to the Original Work or to Derivative
    Works. However, You may modify the text of this License and copy,
    distribute or communicate your modified version (the "Modified License")
    and apply it to other original works of authorship subject to the
    following conditions: (i) You may not indicate in any way that your
    Modified License is the "Transitive Grace Period Public Licence" or
    "TGPPL" and you may not use those names in the name of your Modified
    License; and (ii) You must replace the notice specified in the first
    paragraph above with the notice "Licensed under <insert your license name
    here>" or with a notice of your own that is not confusingly similar to
    the notice in this License.