[License-review] New License for review: ADVPL 1.0

[Pamela Chestek]

Dear License-review,

Below is the recommendation of the License Committee that the Adversary 
Public License not be approved. The Board is scheduled to vote on the 
license at its next Board meeting.

Pam

Pamela S. Chestek
Chair, License Committee
Open Source Initiative

============

License: Adversary Public License 1.0 (Exhibit A)
Submitted: September 4, 2024, 
https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2024-September/005512.html
Decision date: due no later than the first Board meeting after November 
4, 2024

License Review Committee Recommendation:

/Resolved that it is the opinion of the OSI that the Adversary Public 
License 1.0 does not conform to the OSD and assure software freedom and 
the license is therefore not approved.//
//Rationale Document//
/
Reasons for withholding approval: The license is the MIT license with 
seven additional conditions that the license submitter refers to as 
“tenets from the Temple of Satan 
<https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2024-September/005512.html>.” 
When stated and construed as conditions, they make the license 
impossible to apply and potentially violate several of the elements of 
the Open Source Definition. As explained by one reviewer 
<https://lists.opensource.org/pipermail/license-review_lists.opensource.org/2024-September/005514.html>:

If the intended condition is that the recipient of the license must 
*believe* these tenets in order to obtain a valid license, that's 
obviously non-free, and should be interpreted as an OSD#5 violation.

If the intended condition is that the recipient may only *use* the 
software in accordance with these tenets, we run straight into OSD#6 
problems. For example, one tenet talks about "the freedom to offend". 
This could be (mis?-)interpreted to forbid the use of the software in an 
online moderation context. In any case, the tenets are too vague to 
clearly express what actions are forbidden or required, and that's bad 
for an Open Source license.

There was some discussion that moving the tenants to a non-operative 
preamble would correct the deficiency. However, the remainder of the 
license is the MIT license and, if the license was submitted with the 
tenants moved to non-operative text, it should be considered redundant 
and rejected as such.

Exhibit A
The Adversary Public License
Copyright <YEAR> <COPYRIGHT HOLDER>

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a 
copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 
“Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including 
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, 
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to 
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to 
the following conditions:

One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all 
creatures in accordance with reason.
The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should 
prevail over laws and institutions.
One's body is inviolable, subject to one's own will alone.
The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to 
offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another 
is to forgo one's own.
Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the 
world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit 
one's beliefs.
People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to 
rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in 
action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should 
always prevail over the written or spoken word.

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included 
in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS 
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF 
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. 
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY 
CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, 
TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE 
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

On 9/4/2024 9:45 AM, Ω Alisson wrote:
> In accordance with the License Review Process 
> <http://opensource.org/approval>, I'd like to submit for review the 
> Adversary Public License 1.0 (ADVPL), which is composed of the MIT 
> license text + 7 tenets from the Temple of Satan. It complies with all 
> terms of the Open Source Definition, the suggested tag is ADVPL. 
> Currently no significant projects use it, although there is intent 
> once it's approved.
>
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-- 
Pamela S. Chestek Chair, License Committee Open Source Initiative
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