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Re: BitTorrent 4.0.1 - BitTorrent Open Source License



Michael Janssen <jamuraa@debian.org> wrote:
> BitTorrent 4.0.1 changed the license from it's old version, 3.4.2 to
> the BitTorrent Open Source License available at
> http://www.bittorrent.com/license/.  The license he uses is included
> below.  Is there a consensus between any of the debian-legal folks on
> whether this license is DFSG-free?  

Probably not. I didn't see the copy of the licence he uses. The one
on the web, I'm not happy about 4a, 4b is a practical problem, I
think 4d is easy to abuse so every use needs checking carefully, 9b
looks a little broad (but may be irrelevant) and 13 specifies a
venue giving an effective termination clause opportunity. It's one
to avoid if you can and watch very carefully if you can't.

Also see the recent information from Josselin Mouette at
http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/03/msg00581.html
and coordinate efforts if you can.

> [...] If it is not, bugs will most likely need to be filed against
> jabber packages because this license is based on the Jabber Open Souce
> License and, AFAICT, the same objected to sections exist in that
> license.

It looks like the intent is for the jabber package to be useful
under GPL, but the implementation might not be perfect. A bug
is open, number 302417 and we've seen one snippet on this list.
http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/2005/04/msg00000.html

-- 
MJR/slef
My Opinion Only: see http://people.debian.org/~mjr/
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