[License-review] Proposal for OSI Approval track: Modified MIT License for Public Domain software

[Thomas Hruska]

On 5/30/2017 11:18 AM, Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting Thomas Hruska (thruska at cubiclesoft.com):
> 
>> Avoidance was a reasonable strategy not to magically get rid of
>> copyright but make it easier to work around. Maybe it's not a viable
>> strategy, but certainly reasonable.  (CC0's length and verbosity is a
>> testament to that monkey wrench.)
> 
> In my view, CC0's length and verbosity are a testament to the drafters
> having taken their responsibilities seriously.  More to the immediate
> point, so did the drafters of MIT License.  And my point is that there
> are exceptionally compelling reasons why it and all similar licences
> (and for that matter, PD declarations) should and do start with an
> identification of the owner and the year of his/her ownership interest.
> Omitting that is IMO actively harmful to recipients -- and to your aims.
> 
>> Maybe one day the relevant laws will change to favor public domain
>> dedications for the betterment of society as a whole.  Of course, if
>> that ever happens, the solution will thus plainly present itself.
>> This proposal is perhaps a bit ahead of its time.
> 
> Well said.  To be clear, I think it would be a fine and good thing for
> it to be easy and effective to place software works by fiat into the
> public domain.  To my knowledge, CC0 is the best-drafted attempt to
> provide an instrument for that purpose, and primarily because of the
> fallback permissive licence provided inline.   (To be clear, many people
> would deem a PD dedication successful even if ownership interest has not
> technically been eradicated provided the result is functionally similar,
> such as existence of a global, irrevocable licence to use the work for
> any purpose.)

In light of the current analysis, I doubt a simple declaration of public 
domain dedication is able to be made possible without the risks of 
warranty exposure.  I hereby retract the proposal.

All:  Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.  I will 
be updating the blog post shortly.

-- 
Thomas Hruska
CubicleSoft President

I've got great, time saving software that you will find useful.

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