| BSD Protection License |
| |
| February 2002 |
| |
| Preamble |
| |
| -------- |
| |
| The Berkeley Software Distribution ("BSD") license has proven very effective |
| over the years at allowing for a wide spread of work throughout both |
| commercial and non-commercial products. For programmers whose primary |
| intention is to improve the general quality of available software, it is |
| arguable that there is no better license than the BSD license, as it permits |
| improvements to be used wherever they will help, without idealogical or |
| metallic constraint. |
| |
| This is of particular value to those who produce reference implementations of |
| proposed standards: The case of TCP/IP clearly illustrates that freely and |
| universally available implementations leads the rapid acceptance of standards |
| -- often even being used instead of a de jure standard (eg, OSI network |
| models). |
| |
| With the rapid proliferation of software licensed under the GNU General Public |
| License, however, the continued success of this role is called into question. |
| Given that the inclusion of a few lines of "GPL-tainted" work into a larger |
| body of work will result in restricted distribution -- and given that further |
| work will likely build upon the "tainted" portions, making them difficult to |
| remove at a future date -- there are inevitable circumstances where authors |
| would, in order to protect their goal of providing for the widespread usage of |
| their work, wish to guard against such "GPL-taint". |
| |
| In addition, one can imagine that companies which operate by producing and |
| selling (possibly closed-source) code would wish to protect themselves against |
| the rise of a GPL-licensed competitor. While under existing licenses this |
| would mean not releasing their code under any form of open license, if a |
| license existed under which they could incorporate any improvements back into |
| their own (commercial) products then they might be far more willing to provide |
| for non-closed distribution. |
| |
| For the above reasons, we put forth this "BSD Protection License": A license |
| designed to retain the freedom granted by the BSD license to use licensed |
| works in a wide variety of settings, both non-commercial and commercial, while |
| protecting the work from having future contributors restrict that freedom. |
| |
| The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution, and modification |
| follow. |
| |
| BSD PROTECTION LICENSE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION, AND |
| MODIFICATION |
| |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| |
| 0. Definitions. |
| |
| a) "Program", below, refers to any program or work distributed under the terms |
| of this license. |
| |
| b) A "work based on the Program", below, refers to either the Program or any |
| derivative work under copyright law. |
| |
| c) "Modification", below, refers to the act of creating derivative works. |
| |
| d) "You", below, refers to each licensee. |
| |
| 1. Scope. |
| This license governs the copying, distribution, and modification of the |
| Program. Other activities are outside the scope of this license; The act of |
| running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is |
| covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program. |
| |
| 2. Verbatim copies. |
| You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program as you receive it, |
| in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on |
| each copy an appropriate copyright notice; keep intact all the notices that |
| refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other |
| recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program. |
| |
| 3. Modification and redistribution under closed license. |
| You may modify your copy or copies of the Program, and distribute the |
| resulting derivative works, provided that you meet the following conditions: |
| |
| a) The copyright notice and disclaimer on the Program must be reproduced and |
| included in the source code, documentation, and/or other materials provided in |
| a manner in which such notices are normally distributed. |
| |
| b) The derivative work must be clearly identified as such, in order that it |
| may not be confused with the original work. |
| |
| c) The license under which the derivative work is distributed must expressly |
| prohibit the distribution of further derivative works. |
| |
| 4. Modification and redistribution under open license. |
| You may modify your copy or copies of the Program, and distribute the |
| resulting derivative works, provided that you meet the following conditions: |
| |
| a) The copyright notice and disclaimer on the Program must be reproduced and |
| included in the source code, documentation, and/or other materials provided in |
| a manner in which such notices are normally distributed. |
| |
| b) You must clearly indicate the nature and date of any changes made to the |
| Program. The full details need not necessarily be included in the individual |
| modified files, provided that each modified file is clearly marked as such and |
| instructions are included on where the full details of the modifications may |
| be found. |
| |
| c) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in |
| part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be |
| licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this |
| License. |
| |
| 5. Implied acceptance. |
| You may not copy or distribute the Program or any derivative works except as |
| expressly provided under this license. Consequently, any such action will be |
| taken as implied acceptance of the terms of this license. |
| |
| 6. NO WARRANTY. |
| THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, |
| INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND |
| FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE |
| COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE |
| PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, |
| SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR |
| INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF |
| SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS |
| INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN |
| CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT, EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS |
| BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. |
| |