Licensing approaches to network services

The following licenses try to address network services in some way or another.

Given our limited time, I'd prefer to discuss general licensing strategies (source code, data, APIs, trademarks, etc.) rather than specific licenses. Have reorganized the page to reflect that. --LuisVilla


 * I agree. I didn't expect the details of specific licenses to be a subject of major discussion; I was just providing them as background information.  I was actually a little surprised to see just how similar they all were--while there are lots of differences in the details, I think it's safe to say they all use the same fundamental strategy.  --BrettSmith

Source Code Licensing
No complaints on this end, smilpy a good piece.

Honest Public License
The Honest Public License consists of GPLv2 plus an additional Affero-like term that was borrowed from a draft of GPLv3, made into section 2(d). This makes the approach effectively identical to the AGPL's. To the best of my knowledge, no software has been released under this license.

Open Software License/Academic Free License
The OSL defines setting up a web service to be "External Deployment," and says that when you externally deploy the software, you must follow the same conditions that apply to distribution as well.

This is stated as a condition of the entire license. The OSL tries to be a contract, so when that happens, it's possible that you could be compelled to follow this term no matter what you're doing with the software. However, the OSL is also meant to be usable as a copyright license, and in that case, the requirement could also hang on otherwise-private modification, as the AGPL does.

All this analysis applies to the AFL as well; the two licenses differ in other respects.


 * 5. External Deployment. The term "External Deployment" means the use, distribution, or communication of the Original Work or Derivative Works in any way such that the Original Work or Derivative Works may be used by anyone other than You, whether those works are distributed or communicated to those persons or made available as an application intended for use over a network. As an express condition for the grants of license hereunder, You must treat any External Deployment by You of the Original Work or a Derivative Work as a distribution under section 1(c).

Common Public Attribution License
The CPAL is a modified version of the Mozilla Public License, adding a couple of noteworthy requirements. One of them is an "external deployment" section. The language is clearly borrowed from the OSL; it has been modified only to make references to other parts of the MPL. It says:


 * 15. ADDITIONAL TERM: NETWORK USE.
 * The term "External Deployment" means the use, distribution, or communication of the Original Code or Modifications in any way such that the Original Code or Modifications may be used by anyone other than You, whether those works are distributed or communicated to those persons or made available as an application intended for use over a network. As an express condition for the grants of license hereunder, You must treat any External Deployment by You of the Original Code or Modifications as a distribution under section 3.1 and make Source Code available under Section 3.2.

Reciprocal Public License
The RPL simply requires you to make source available to anyone who can run the software remotely. It's not clear how they require the recipient to do this; if pressed, I'd guess that the authors would argue that the RPL is a contract that the recipient must accept to use the software at all. The section with this specific requirement says:


 * 6.1 Availability of Source Code. You must make available, under the terms of this License, the Source Code of any Extensions that You Deploy, via an Electronic Distribution Mechanism. The Source Code for any version that You Deploy must be made available within one (1) month of when you Deploy and must remain available for no less than twelve (12) months after the date You cease to Deploy. You are responsible for ensuring that the Source Code to each version You Deploy remains available even if the Electronic Distribution Mechanism is maintained by a third party. You may not charge a fee for any copy of the Source Code distributed under this Section in excess of Your actual cost of duplication and distribution of said copy.

If my porblem was a Death Star, this article is a photon torpedo.

You're on top of the game. Thanks for shianrg.