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Re: Academic Free License 2.1 -- free or not?



On Thu, Oct 14, 2004 at 02:21:44PM -0300, Carlos Laviola wrote:
> 3) Grant of Source Code License. The term "Source Code" means the
> preferred form of the Original Work for making modifications to it and
> all available documentation describing how to modify the Original
> Work. Licensor hereby agrees to provide a machine-readable copy of the
> Source Code of the Original Work along with each copy of the Original
> Work that Licensor distributes. Licensor reserves the right to satisfy
> this obligation by placing a machine-readable copy of the Source Code
> in an information repository reasonably calculated to permit
> inexpensive and convenient access by You for as long as Licensor
> continues to distribute the Original Work, and by publishing the
> address of that information repository in a notice immediately
> following the copyright notice that applies to the Original Work.

Clause restricting the licensor. That's *fucked up*. Goodness knows
what that means.

> 6) Attribution Rights. You must retain, in the Source Code of any
> Derivative Works that You create, all copyright, patent or trademark
> notices from the Source Code of the Original Work, as well as any
> notices of licensing and any descriptive text identified therein as an
> "Attribution Notice." You must cause the Source Code for any
> Derivative Works that You create to carry a prominent Attribution
> Notice reasonably calculated to inform recipients that You have
> modified the Original Work.

That's non-free if there are any significant 'Attribution
Notice's. This is a thinly disguised variation on 'Invariant
Sections'.

> 9) Acceptance and Termination. If You distribute copies of the
> Original Work or a Derivative Work, You must make a reasonable effort
> under the circumstances to obtain the express assent of recipients to
> the terms of this License.

That's non-free.

> 10) Termination for Patent Action. This License shall terminate
> automatically and You may no longer exercise any of the rights granted
> to You by this License as of the date You commence an action,
> including a cross-claim or counterclaim, against Licensor or any
> licensee alleging that the Original Work infringes a patent. This
> termination provision shall not apply for an action alleging patent
> infringement by combinations of the Original Work with other software
> or hardware.

So's that.

> 11) Jurisdiction, Venue and Governing Law. Any action or suit relating
> to this License may be brought only in the courts of a jurisdiction
> wherein the Licensor resides or in which Licensor conducts its primary
> business, and under the laws of that jurisdiction excluding its
> conflict-of-law provisions. The application of the United Nations
> Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is
> expressly excluded. Any use of the Original Work outside the scope of
> this License or after its termination shall be subject to the
> requirements and penalties of the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101
> et seq., the equivalent laws of other countries, and international
> treaty. This section shall survive the termination of this License.

And that.

> 12) Attorneys Fees. In any action to enforce the terms of this License
> or seeking damages relating thereto, the prevailing party shall be
> entitled to recover its costs and expenses, including, without
> limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in
> connection with such action, including any appeal of such action. This
> section shall survive the termination of this License.

And probably that one too. Greedy lawyer bitch-clause.

> This license is Copyright (C) 2003-2004 Lawrence E. Rosen. All rights
> reserved.

Figures. Another in Rosen's long line of appallingly written, non-free
licenses. Why do people even consider using these things?

As a rule of thumb, any license involving the words "Open", "Free", or
"Rosen" is non-free. Funny, that.

-- 
  .''`.  ** Debian GNU/Linux ** | Andrew Suffield
 : :' :  http://www.debian.org/ |
 `. `'                          |
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