[License-discuss] OSD and Compulsory User Reporting

[Chris Lamb]

Hi Ryan,

> Would a license which requires a user to provide information regarding 
> use of the software to the author or another party upon request be a 
> compliant license?

This would not be a compliant license. In Debian, this is refered to
as the "Desert Island" test, which originated in a 2002 discussion about
the license of the vim editor:

  A good test case for whether a license is free (for issues like this)
  is whether a disconnected group of people on a desert island could
  distribute the software among themselves.

    — https://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2002/01/msg00010.html


Best wishes,

-- 
Chris Lamb
Open Source Initiative
Email: chris.lamb at opensource.org
Website: www.opensource.org