1 BSD Protection License 2 February 2002 3 4 Preamble 5 -------- 6 7 The Berkeley Software Distribution ("BSD") license has proven very effective 8 over the years at allowing for a wide spread of work throughout both 9 commercial and non-commercial products. For programmers whose primary 10 intention is to improve the general quality of available software, it is 11 arguable that there is no better license than the BSD license, as it 12 permits improvements to be used wherever they will help, without idealogical 13 or metallic constraint. 14 15 This is of particular value to those who produce reference implementations 16 of proposed standards: The case of TCP/IP clearly illustrates that freely 17 and universally available implementations leads the rapid acceptance of 18 standards -- often even being used instead of a de jure standard (eg, OSI 19 network models). 20 21 With the rapid proliferation of software licensed under the GNU General 22 Public License, however, the continued success of this role is called into 23 question. Given that the inclusion of a few lines of "GPL-tainted" work 24 into a larger body of work will result in restricted distribution -- and 25 given that further work will likely build upon the "tainted" portions, 26 making them difficult to remove at a future date -- there are inevitable 27 circumstances where authors would, in order to protect their goal of 28 providing for the widespread usage of their work, wish to guard against 29 such "GPL-taint". 30 31 In addition, one can imagine that companies which operate by producing and 32 selling (possibly closed-source) code would wish to protect themselves 33 against the rise of a GPL-licensed competitor. While under existing 34 licenses this would mean not releasing their code under any form of open 35 license, if a license existed under which they could incorporate any 36 improvements back into their own (commercial) products then they might be 37 far more willing to provide for non-closed distribution. 38 39 For the above reasons, we put forth this "BSD Protection License": A 40 license designed to retain the freedom granted by the BSD license to use 41 licensed works in a wide variety of settings, both non-commercial and 42 commercial, while protecting the work from having future contributors 43 restrict that freedom. 44 45 The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution, and 46 modification follow. 47 48 BSD PROTECTION LICENSE 49 TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION, AND MODIFICATION 50 ---------------------------------------------------------------- 51 52 0. Definitions. 53 a) "Program", below, refers to any program or work distributed under 54 the terms of this license. 55 b) A "work based on the Program", below, refers to either the Program 56 or any derivative work under copyright law. 57 c) "Modification", below, refers to the act of creating derivative works. 58 d) "You", below, refers to each licensee. 59 60 1. Scope. 61 This license governs the copying, distribution, and modification of the 62 Program. Other activities are outside the scope of this license; The 63 act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the 64 Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the 65 Program. 66 67 2. Verbatim copies. 68 You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program as you 69 receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and 70 appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice; keep 71 intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of 72 any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this 73 License along with the Program. 74 75 3. Modification and redistribution under closed license. 76 You may modify your copy or copies of the Program, and distribute 77 the resulting derivative works, provided that you meet the 78 following conditions: 79 a) The copyright notice and disclaimer on the Program must be reproduced 80 and included in the source code, documentation, and/or other materials 81 provided in a manner in which such notices are normally distributed. 82 b) The derivative work must be clearly identified as such, in order that 83 it may not be confused with the original work. 84 c) The license under which the derivative work is distributed must 85 expressly prohibit the distribution of further derivative works. 86 87 4. Modification and redistribution under open license. 88 You may modify your copy or copies of the Program, and distribute 89 the resulting derivative works, provided that you meet the 90 following conditions: 91 a) The copyright notice and disclaimer on the Program must be reproduced 92 and included in the source code, documentation, and/or other materials 93 provided in a manner in which such notices are normally distributed. 94 b) You must clearly indicate the nature and date of any changes made 95 to the Program. The full details need not necessarily be included in 96 the individual modified files, provided that each modified file is 97 clearly marked as such and instructions are included on where the 98 full details of the modifications may be found. 99 c) You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole 100 or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part 101 thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third 102 parties under the terms of this License. 103 104 5. Implied acceptance. 105 You may not copy or distribute the Program or any derivative works except 106 as expressly provided under this license. Consequently, any such action 107 will be taken as implied acceptance of the terms of this license. 108 109 6. NO WARRANTY. 110 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, 111 INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY 112 AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL 113 THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR 114 REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, 115 INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES 116 ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING, BUT 117 NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF 118 USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND 119 ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR 120 TORT, EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE 121 POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 122
