| 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. |