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