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| <div class="container"> <h1 id="ramblings-of-an-asf-vp-of-legal-affairs">Ramblings of an ASF VP of Legal Affairs<a class="headerlink" href="#ramblings-of-an-asf-vp-of-legal-affairs" title="Permalink">¶</a></h1> |
| <h2 id="head-11cdd06ae562b350659a9d6e8be7f2e44ade68f2">Precession of the |
| Perihelion of Mercury</h2> |
| <h3 id="head-6653353e1b1af623d5b0b13850d1bb28b94094f1">Preface<a class="headerlink" href="#head-6653353e1b1af623d5b0b13850d1bb28b94094f1" title="Permalink">¶</a></h3> |
| <p>Everybody agrees that the coastline of Australia is longer than the |
| coastline of Cuba. Similarly, the coastline of Japan is longer than the |
| coastline of Australia. Wait... what? The <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2060.html">CIA says |
| so</a> |
| , so it must be true. Furthermore, it turns out that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Long_Is_the_Coast_of_Britain%3F_Statistical_Self-Similarity_and_Fractional_Dimension">length of a |
| coastline depends on how you measure |
| it</a>.</p> |
| <p>What does that have to do with licensing? Most third party licensing |
| questions are of the form:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li></li> |
| </ul> |
| <p>Can ASF Project "A" do "B" with "C", which is licensed as "D"?</p> |
| <p>The answer is that simple rules and gross approximations often gives the |
| right answer in both cases. Like comparing Cuba and Australia, for example. |
| In some cases, however, such rules and approximations give the wrong |
| answer. And in rare cases, the answer itself depends on how the question |
| was asked.</p> |
| <p>This is meant to be a lighthearted and sometimes sideways introduction to |
| what is a complex and often contentious subject.</p> |
| <h3 id="head-62def7ee9e2cb64eb757533133a99da472b1e88a">Approximation 1<a class="headerlink" href="#head-62def7ee9e2cb64eb757533133a99da472b1e88a" title="Permalink">¶</a></h3> |
| <p>The first approximation to the Third Party Licensing Policy is that the ASF |
| must be able to distribute works created within an Apache Project solely |
| under the <a href="/licenses/LICENSE-2.0">Apache License, Version |
| 2</a>. And furthermore, any |
| dependencies that such Works might have must be licensed under similar |
| terms. This is an ideal that is both highly desirable and yet not 100% |
| consistently met -- at least not in full, when you consider recursive |
| dependencies.</p> |
| <p>For this approximation, the sole determinant is the license (the "D") in |
| the statement above, and the question arises: what are "similar" terms?</p> |
| <p>I look at it this way: Apache type licenses are a universal donor. Such |
| code can be given to anybody. GPL type licenses are closer to being a |
| universal recipient, at least within the domain of open source. Such code |
| can be combined with a wide range of open source code.</p> |
| <p>The FSF provides us with a <a href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3-compatibility.png">good visual |
| aid</a> |
| for this. Note how all the arrows are one way.</p> |
| <p>For us to remain a universal donor, our products must remain |
| <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigen">antigen</a> free. This leads naturally |
| to the definition of <a href="https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/infrastructure/site/trunk/archive/legal/3party.mdtext#category-a">Category A: Authorized |
| Licenses</a>.</p> |
| <h3 id="head-c75e231a790f744e36b7d96c83d3bcc9d8fd1f15">Approximation 2<a class="headerlink" href="#head-c75e231a790f744e36b7d96c83d3bcc9d8fd1f15" title="Permalink">¶</a></h3> |
| <p>The first approximation gives a lot of good answers, but a few wrong |
| answers. For starters, antigens aren't all bad. The <a href="/licenses/LICENSE-2.0">Apache License, |
| Version 2</a> has a patent |
| termination clause. That clause coupled with <a href="/licenses/#clas">Contributor License |
| Agreements</a> is part of a larger |
| strategy which keeps the blood supply safe from other dangers.</p> |
| <p>This means that while category A licenses are perfectly acceptable in small |
| doses, heavy dependencies on works made available under such licenses will |
| dilute the patent liability limitations that the ASF so carefully |
| engineered into its license policy.</p> |
| <p>The flip side of this is also true. Non-category A licenses may be |
| perfectly acceptable, depending on <em>how</em> they are used. In case you hadn't |
| noticed, that's the "B" in the statement above. Incorporating a Work in |
| order to implement a core function in a way that is difficult to extract is |
| a very different thing that having an optional plugin that allows |
| integration with another product. That continues to be true even if that |
| product that is made available under an <a href="https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/infrastructure/site/trunk/archive/legal/3party.mdtext#category-x">excluded |
| license</a>. Or even a proprietary, non-open source |
| one.</p> |
| <p>A concrete example of this is the <a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-3.3-doc/NT-Service-howto.html">Jakarta NT |
| Service</a>. A |
| <a href="http://servicemix.apache.org/jboss-deployer-for-20.html">JBOSS deployer</a> |
| is another. To borrow a phrase from another aspect of law, as long as there |
| is a <a href="http://www.lectlaw.com/def/i041.htm">substantial non-infringing use</a> |
| without these plugins, these uses are not only OK, they are positively |
| aligned with the goal of being a universal donor. Some care must be taken |
| in documenting how this is done, of course.</p> |
| <p>So the second approximation is a matrix. Rows are licenses. Columns are |
| uses. Initially the matrix is sparse, but over time it can be filled in |
| with "always OK" and "never OK". Some of the answers will have an asterisk |
| beside it. When organized this way, you can start to see some licenses are |
| inert gases, while others are positively radioactive, and categories will |
| emerge.</p> |
| <p>And just when you think you can get a handle on this, people invent new |
| licenses, new |
| <a href="http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/www-legal-discuss/200803.mbox/%3c47DEB046.10004@dubioso.net%3e">clauses</a> |
| , and new |
| <a href="http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/www-legal-discuss/200802.mbox/%3cE1A2049F-5D7B-44F7-A1E3-B9645BC52348@yahoo.com%3e">exclusions</a>. |
| And new <a href="http://markmail.org/message/7no3tdx6nh37stpw">uses</a>.</p> |
| <h3 id="head-cc4186e2c34505e5dddc5c9b5e40a655cd699e5c">Approximation 3<a class="headerlink" href="#head-cc4186e2c34505e5dddc5c9b5e40a655cd699e5c" title="Permalink">¶</a></h3> |
| <p>Asterisks were mentioned above. On a few licenses and uses, the asterisks |
| seem to multiply like dandelions. Examples: a column that deals with hard |
| dependencies on proprietary products that are distributed free of cost for |
| a wide range of uses; and a row that deals with GPL based licenses with |
| <a href="http://www.gnu.org/software/classpath/license.html">classpath</a> or <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html">usage |
| as a library</a> exceptions.</p> |
| <p>Java and C# are prime examples.</p> |
| <p>At first, it is tempting to try to define this in terms of the types of |
| <a href="https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/infrastructure/site/trunk/archive/legal/3party.mdtext#options-systemrequirements">usages</a>. But increasingly you find |
| that it is difficult to distinguish the acceptable usages from the |
| unacceptable usages in this manner. Ultimately, it turns out to be simpler |
| to simply enumerate the acceptable products. That's the "C" in the |
| description above.</p> |
| <p>The distinguishing characteristic tends to be something entirely outside of |
| the license and outside of our control. Charateristics that deal with |
| attributes like <em>ubiquity</em> and <em>standards</em>. Is the product ubiquitous |
| enough to be something that it can be presumed to already be installed in |
| the target environment? Is the ASF code interacting with this product using |
| "standard" interfaces that were explicitly designed to enable what the ASF |
| product is trying to do? Note: I put "standard" in scare quotes as this |
| question needs to be explored without the burden of trying to figure out |
| whether or not the ASF endorses any particular standards body. For these |
| purposes, any architected interface will do. More simply: are we employing |
| or extending the product in the way it was intended?</p> |
| <p>So <a href="http://logging.apache.org/log4j/">log4j</a> depending on Java is clearly |
| OK. It even is clearly marked as such.</p> |
| <p>When faced with the question of whether or not Hibernate could be |
| considered a system dependency or not, the Incubator simply stated that |
| Roller could not bundle and ship Hibernate. This lead to <a href="https://issues.apache.org/roller/browse/ROL-1447">this |
| issue</a> , which was based |
| on the observation that much of the target audience for Roller did not have |
| Hibernate already installed, and merely were interested in installing it |
| for the purposes of supporting Roller.</p> |
| <p>Needless to say, these types of discussions and decisions are difficult for |
| everybody involved. And should only be reopened based on a specific request |
| from a PMC.</p> |
| <h3 id="head-910696a98b9d99da1ab39387b15680b37a0271a3">Approximation 4<a class="headerlink" href="#head-910696a98b9d99da1ab39387b15680b37a0271a3" title="Permalink">¶</a></h3> |
| <p>If you see the pattern, there is only one letter left. "A". Given that we |
| are all ASF projects here, there can't be a case where two ASF product |
| wanting to use the same product (with obviously the same license) in the |
| same manner ends up with the answer that it is OK in one and not OK in the |
| other, can there? Actually, it is rare, but possible.</p> |
| <p><a href="http://incubator.apache.org/lucene.net/">Lucene.Net</a> has a hard dependency |
| on the <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/">Microsoft.NET Framework</a>. |
| As described above, that's quite OK. And again, the dependency is clearly |
| marked, so those not interested in this podling will simply not |
| participate.</p> |
| <p>On the other hand, changes to httpd to make use of a similar dependency |
| would likely result in a fork. For a while, Open Office faced a similar |
| <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/">controversy</a> , and that lead to |
| the mail merge component being rewritten in Python and ultimately may have |
| contributed in a small way to the formation of the |
| <a href="http://openjdk.java.net/">OpenJDK</a>.</p> |
| <p>And, clearly, <a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/">Tomcat</a> is exactly one such a |
| "fork". One that is doing quite well. The point here is that there will be |
| times when protecting the option to NOT make use of a third party library |
| is as important as protecting the option TO make use of a third party |
| library.</p> |
| <h3 id="head-5e199698127bb607e1aa3c52d06ee3fbe390679e">Approximation 5<a class="headerlink" href="#head-5e199698127bb607e1aa3c52d06ee3fbe390679e" title="Permalink">¶</a></h3> |
| <p>OK, I'm out of letters. But still not everything quite fits. |
| <a href="http://santuario.apache.org/">Santuario</a> has to deal with |
| <a href="/licenses/exports/">regulations</a> that aren't |
| copyright, patent, or even license related. HTTPD has dealt with a similar |
| situation by providing <a href="http://httpd.apache.org/download.cgi">separate |
| downloads</a>.</p> |
| <p>The title at the top of this document pays homage to an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tests_of_general_relativity">observed |
| phenomenon</a> that |
| helped cause Newtonian mechanics to be replaced by General Relativity. An |
| <a href="http://www.whatquote.com/quotes/Thomas-Henry-Huxley/2264-Science-is-organized.htm">ugly |
| fact</a> |
| as it were. Note that Newtonian mechanics is still taught today as it still |
| produces quite useful answers in a large range of applications, but where |
| the answers that General Relativity provides are different than the ones |
| that Newtonian mechanics provides, the former is more often the correct |
| one.</p> |
| <p>Now I don't pretend to presume that this brain fart compares in even the |
| slightest way to the significance of General Relativity. To be honest, I |
| simply sprinkled in science metaphors to spice up an otherwise dry subject, |
| and also to give credibility to the notion that some things that may seem |
| initially to defy <a href="http://www.thegardenoftheheart.com/Daily_Thoughts/CommonSense.html">common |
| sense</a> |
| from one perspective may actually be the <strong>only</strong> sensible position from a |
| completely different perspective.</p> |
| <p>And on that topic, while Newton's Gravity was the "downfall" of Newtonian |
| Mechanics, Quantum mechanics will likely revolutionize Relativity. In |
| Quantum mechanics, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-slit_experiment">role of the observer often affects the properties |
| of the observed</a>. The |
| ASF's decision to pursue Java and XML have had a profound affect on both of |
| those subjects. (Perhaps not as much as we <a href="/jcp/sunopenletter.html">might have |
| hoped</a> , but substantial |
| nevertheless). This means that from time to time we should allow ourselves |
| to pursue carefully selected initiatives that defy all of the above |
| criteria.</p> |
| <h3 id="head-c8b05f24ae8b4bd3caf681e7f14c1ac4c3952b1f">Epilogue<a class="headerlink" href="#head-c8b05f24ae8b4bd3caf681e7f14c1ac4c3952b1f" title="Permalink">¶</a></h3> |
| <p>Even with the above disclaimer, this entire ramble is too pretentious for |
| my tastes. What I really want to do is to make quick work of <a href="/legal/OpenLegalQuestions">questions on |
| this list</a>. I believe that in order to do so, |
| having the flexibility of being able to merely say that "Java based |
| projects are welcome here", or "anything written in Ruby and made available |
| under the Ruby license is OK as a dependency for a project written in |
| Ruby".</p> |
| <p>The reason I want to do so is simple: the boundary between what is and what |
| is not a part of the Ruby runtime is blurry; the intentions of the authors |
| of any such Gem is clear; and frankly, such a statement is very much in |
| line with what licensees of Ruby code expect. Such a statement also avoids |
| spending any energy trying to fit the either the Java or Ruby licenses into |
| one of the existing categories (or, <strong>shudder</strong> alternately, modifying the |
| definition of one or more categories to accommodate Ruby), which would be |
| tantamount to trying to decide how we should handle TCL code that is |
| licensed under the Ruby license.</p> |
| <h4 id="head-028ca2cb190a61bddc20dee71779c6d592ffac1c">Differences<a class="headerlink" href="#head-028ca2cb190a61bddc20dee71779c6d592ffac1c" title="Permalink">¶</a></h4> |
| <p>To a high degree of approximation, this approach described by this page |
| matches the <a href="https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/infrastructure/site/trunk/archive/legal/3party.mdtext">Draft Third-Party Licensing Policy</a>. Key |
| differences:</p> |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| <p>This page contains a complete lack of phrases such as "must be removed |
| before the earlier of one year or two major releases". If an existing |
| project has been making releases for an extended period of time without |
| significant objections by either contributors or licensees, I feel that |
| there is no reason to intercede.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p>This page lacks any specifics on Category B or how to handle third party |
| scripts. I'm not prepared to declare consensus on these issues, and the |
| appropriate way to handle these cases may very well be context specific.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p>This page explicitly acknowledges that decisions may not be consistent |
| across all projects and all time, while at the same time attempting to |
| minimize and constrain the times that this may occur.</p> |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| <h4 id="head-6549043a9da5c0391654656b5527cb6ee3544991">Statement of Intent<a class="headerlink" href="#head-6549043a9da5c0391654656b5527cb6ee3544991" title="Permalink">¶</a></h4> |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| <p>The overriding goal is to remain a universal donor. While PMCs will be |
| expected to balance developers' and licensees' needs, in questions relating |
| to third party licensing matters, the Legal Affairs Committee will focus |
| mostly on ensuring that the entire rage of the needs of licensees, ranging |
| from the most risk adverse corporations to the most activist members of the |
| Free Software Movement, are met.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p>The ASF is all about voluntary contributions, and intends to obey the |
| constraints expressed by the copyright holder when redistributing their |
| work.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p>All decisions will be made and posted publicly.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p>As much as humanly possible, everything will be by consensus of the Legal |
| Affairs Committee, though possibly via <a href="/foundation/voting.html#LazyConsensus">Lazy |
| Consensus</a>. If |
| there ever is a time that consensus can't be reached, the decision will |
| fall to the Chair who will keep the board informed on any such issues.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p>PMCs will be encouraged to provide specific questions. Questions of the |
| form listed above will take priority over "here's a problem, solve it for |
| me" types of open ended questions.</p> |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <p>A key part of the third party licensing policy will be the establishment |
| and policing of specific policies for NOTICE, LICENSE, and README files.</p> |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
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