[License-review] Approval request for ZENTAO PUBLIC LICENSE

[Carlo Piana]

On 16/06/2016 03:00, TENG Fei wrote:
> Dear License Review Board, 
> I am writing to request the approval of ZENTAO PUBLIC LICENSE. The
> required information is as followed.
>
>

While I still don't like this license at all, I can only spot a few
flaws now:

>
> QingDao Nature Easy
> Soft Network Technology Co,LTD has the final authority to interpret the
> terms of the agreement.  

This is quite strange. A Judge should have this final authority. Relying
on an external source for defining the legal content of a license is
heterodox at best. The license must be self-fulfilling (except for the
inevitable external legal environment).

Additionally, the reference to "I" looks suspicious: who is this "I"?
Who is this "I" for downstream modifications? Are downstream copyright
holders excluded from the same rights as the original?

I also have reservations, which I think I have already expressed, against

> 4.4 You must notify your users clearly that your service is based on
> the software 
> when you use it to build your online service.

although it seems better worded than what my memory reports.

Finally, there is a list of "things" a user/developer can do. I am sure
there has been effort in be all-inclusive, but is it the complete list
or something outside would be permissible? Some read as very specific to
a given field-of-use, while other fields of use can be discriminated.

All in all, a further case for upholding the advice "don't write a
license unless it's strictly necessary; most often it's not necessary;
it's almost invariably a bad idea".

Best

Carlo




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